Ben Stokes issued an urgent plea via social media after the England cricket star claimed his family home was burgled.
Stokes alleges the incident took place while he was away on England duty during the recent tour of Pakistan.
The New Zealand-born star released a series of photos accompanying the statement, which appeared to suggest his OBE medal was among the stolen items.
Launching an appeal to his 1.4million X followers, the 33-year-old said: “On the evening of Thursday 17th October a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the North East.
“They escaped with jewellery, other valuables and a good deal of personal items. Many of those items have real sentimental value for me and my family. They are irreplaceable.
“This is an appeal for any help in finding these people who carried out this act.”
Detailing the horrors his family experienced during the incident, Stokes continued: “By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and 2 young children were in the house. Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm. Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.”
He continued: “I am releasing photographs of some of the stolen items – which I hope may be easily identified – in the hope that we can find the people who are responsible for this.
“Although we have lost cherished possessions, to be clear, my sole motivation in sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material items. It is to catch the people who did this.
“Please come forward and contact Durham Constabulary on 101 quoting crime reference CRI00575927 if you think that you have any relevant information.
“Finally, I want to say thank you to the police service. Both now and whilst I was away in Pakistan, their support for my family has been outstanding. They continue to work incredibly hard in trying to find these people.”
Among the photographs of the stolen items, Stokes shared a picture of him holding the OBE medal he was given in 2020, along with several pieces of jewellery and a Christian Dior handbag.
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