Foetus stolen from grieving mother's freezer

The incident is understood to have occurred on October 11 or 12. Photo / File

A foetus has been stolen from a grieving mother's freezer in Hamilton while she was waiting to bury it, after medical complications prevented it from being carried to full term.

Thieves who broke into a Hamilton East garage last week stole food from a 23-year-old woman's freezer, but also took the foetus of her aborted baby she was preparing to bury under a tree, Fairfax reported.

The incident is understood to have occurred on October 11 or 12.

And the family is now pleading for the thieves to return the foetus, whose gender is unknown.

"Please hear a mother's and father's plea -- give us back our baby," she told Fairfax.

"We have lost and grieved, and now have to do it all again."

It is understood the foetus was in the freezer, and had been for some time, while the family found a suitable place to bury it.

The woman's father, Dave Evington, told Fairfax his daughter could not carry the baby to full term because of medical complications which would endanger her life and give the baby a higher chance of being stillborn.

The theft had affected his daughter greatly, he said.

"My girl is a real strong person, but I can see it and hear it in her voice that it's not sitting well."

Hamilton police confirmed an amniotic sac had been reported as stolen alongside meat.

Senior Sergeant Gill Meadows urged the thieves to return the foetus.