Lizzie Marvelly outs thief who stole from family's hotel

Singer Lizzie Marvelly's family hotel has been targeted by a thief who stole treasured possessions in a brazen New Year burglary.

The Weekend Herald columnist has expressed her outrage on Twitter and is asking for people to help identify the man who allegedly took a painting, two mirrors and a decorative plant stand from the boutique Princes Gate Hotel in Rotorua.

The footage shows a man wearing a cap, dark clothing and sneakers striding confidently along the hotel's balcony at night on January 2.

In a post of CCTV footage the upset Kiwi songstress tweeted: "Do you know this man? He stole a bunch of stuff from my family's Princes Gate Hotel in Rotorua on Jan 2."

Marvelly told the Herald she was gutted when she found out about the theft and was keen to highlight the burglary to get back the stolen property.

"I just know that my parents put a huge amount of love and hard work into the hotel, which they've owned for nearly 30 years," she said.

"I felt gutted for them when they told me what had happened last night, so I decided to send out the pictures this morning to see if anyone knew the guy."

She said the pot plant stand - a gift given by her father to her mother during their first year of marriage - was of particular sentimental value to her parents.

Hotelier Brett Marvelly said while the possessions weren't worth thousands of dollars they were still very special.

"In the broader context, it wasn't the value of what was taken but it was still very personal and taking things brazenly out of a hotel is quite horrible," he said.

The painting was a period landscape, one mirror had a gilt gold edge while the second mirror had a distinctive full Maori carving around its side.

The pot plant stand was a four-legged gold, brass stand with ceramic tiles on the top.

Mr Marvelly said CCTV footage showed the man walked in and out of the hotel three times between 9.15 and 9.45pm, each time carrying out a different piece of stolen property.

"He also came in during the day and walked around the place and cased the place so he knew exactly what he was doing and what he wanted," he said.

Each item was taken from public areas inside the historic hotel.