The woman whose "Open letter to a thief" is printed below has a simple message for the person who broke into her home – they have taken something which means the world to her but nothing to them.
The 45-year-old mum of two boys contacted the Leicester Mercury after an intruder entered her home in Aylestone, Leicester, and stole her handbag from the kitchen last Monday.
She suggested we print it on the letters page. We thought it deserved greater prominence.
The woman, who has asked to remain anonymous, explained why the loss of the poetry cards that were in the bag had hit her so hard.
"My mum was diagnosed the day before my birthday in July 2010 and we were told she would have maybe another two years, but she became ill very rapidly and died five weeks later.
"She always used to buy those little cards for me and my sister. They're just simple little things which are the size of a credit card, but they have lovely poems and words printed on them.
"She did that for years, absolutely years, and I kept them all in my purse.
"There were loads of them and they mean more to me than anything else – even though the handbag itself belonged to her.
"There was also a pair of her old gloves in the bag. They still smelled of her perfume, but the only things I really want back are those little cards.
"They say it gets easier to cope with the loss of a loved one as the days go by, but it doesn't. It really doesn't.
"I've lost my best friend and I think about her every day. I still haven't finished the grieving process, but this burglary was the straw that broke the camel's back."
The break-in happened after she had just finished a stack of ironing.
"I'd taken a pile of ironing upstairs to my son's bedroom when I heard an almighty bang," she said.
"I went downstairs again and the back door was swinging open. One of my sons and I went outside with torches and had a look around, but we couldn't see anything.
"It was windy that night so I started to think that the door had just blown open.
"A little while later, I was going to drive my son's girlfriend home and that's when I realised my bag was gone from the kitchen.
"That's when I got really upset, knowing what was in it."
To add insult to injury, the woman's bank card was used to withdraw £300 from her account, apparently within minutes of the burglary. Happily, her bank has refunded her.
Her house keys and car keys were also in the bag. She has changed the locks at home and spent more than £300 getting new keys for her car.
Her letter was written late at night and as the full impact of the burglary was hitting home.
"I sat down and wrote the letter at 11.30pm a couple of days afterwards," she said.
"I just wanted the person who did this to me to understand the impact it has had.
"As I said in the letter, he clearly knows where I live and I was just hoping he would have the heart to return those cards because I want them back so much. It's over to him now."
A police spokeswoman said the force was investigating.
Any information can be passed to Detective Constable Kim Potter on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
AN OPEN LETTER TO A THIEFDo you have a heart? Would the very kind people who walked into my kitchen at 8pm on Monday, February 4 and helped themselves to my handbag with its contents please find the heart to return my personal, sentimental possessions that can never be replaced?
I am talking about the sentimental poem gift cards given to me by my late mum and my friends when I lost my mum.
You can keep the £300 cash (withdrawn at Fullhurst Avenue half-an-hour later, at 8.29pm), make-up, perfume, gloves, bag and even the Tampax, but if you have a heart of any description, please just pop the cards in a bag and throw them over the 6ft wall you managed to scale.
These are the last things my mum gave to me and I would love nothing more than to have them back.
You have no idea of the past two years I have endured since I lost my mum.
There again, you probably have read the contents of the letter which is also in the bag.
But to have these cards back, I would forgive you for what you have done.
I don't want to know who you are or where you're from.
I will not even emphasise the inconvenience this has caused, as at the end of the day I understand you may have your reasons for doing this to me.
I am not a bad person, never have been – just drawn the short straw in the past two years, and this has not helped.
I do hope that you never have to go through what I have as I would never wish this on my worst enemy.
So please, if you do have a heart, return them.
You know where I live.
