A young family came home from Christmas celebrations to find their home ransacked and $30,000 worth of property stolen. Video supplied / Richard Moon
A young family came home from Christmas celebrations to find their home ransacked and $30,000 worth of property stolen.
Richard Moon is offering his boat to anyone who can help with information that leads to recovery of the property including hunting gear, building tools, fishing rods and a child's motorbike.
He and wife Pippa-Jane Moon and his son arrived home about 1am on Boxing Day to find their eastern Bay of Plenty home in complete disarray.
"The house was ripped to pieces. They trashed it."
Pippa-Jane said the culprits stole 10-year-old Drae's Christmas, and Moon said his son was so scared he is now staying with his grandparents.
"He was horrified. He's not taking it very well. He's staying at his Nana's because he doesn't feel safe."
Moon, 32 and Pippa-Jane, 28, had been to a Christmas lunch in Ohope before returning to a neighbour's property about 1km from their house in the hills surrounding Taneatua, near Whakatane, for drinks.
One of the rooms in the burgled house. Photo / Facebook
Photos of the scene posted by Moon on Facebook show clothing and household items strewn across the floor, boxes tipped over and dressing table drawers on the floor.
Moon, a builder by trade and a keen hunter who rescues kiwi, said his gun cabinet was completely ripped out, his ute window was smashed and he believes the thieves entered the house by smashing off a door handle.
His estimated $30,000 worth of gear including a thermal hunting camera worth $10,000, eight dog tracking collars worth $4000, tools such as a skill saw, drill, nail gun and drop saw worth $5000, his son's PlayStation and 2014 CRF 110 Honda motorbike, and fishing rods was taken.
Moon said he was only partially insured for the building tools because the premiums were unaffordable and he had only just replaced many of them after they were stolen on a job earlier in the year.
Sentimental items with no value to anyone but Pippa-Jane had also been broken for no reason, Moon said.
"They ruined a heap of letters that she got when she had childhood cancer."
The letters, sent to Pippa-Jane when she had bone cancer as a 12-year-old, were tipped on to the floor and walked over with wet boots.
"She's pretty upset about that. She's gone to her parents' house."
Pippa-Jane's collection of bug cases as part of her vet training were also smashed on the ground.
The boat Richard Moon is offering as a reward for information leading to the recovery of his stolen property. Photo / Facebook
Moon, who teaches jujitsu in Kawerau, said the family felt violated knowing their home had been broken into.
The burglars left behind Drae's Christmas presents under the tree which he hadn't yet opened, as well as footprints and tyre tracks.
Moon is waiting for police to inspect the scene but said his Facebook post, which had attracted 827 comments, 2200 shares and 1500 likes by 5pm on Boxing Day, has established a few leads.
He plans to build a fence around his house, install security cameras and let his dogs, which were in kennels during the burglary, run free inside the fenced property.
