A distraught mum has pleaded with callous burglars to return an urn containing her dead daughter's ashes.
Catherine Farrell-Breen, 31, was left devastated following the burglary at her home in Birmingham on Thursday.
She said: "If you have a heart, please return it."
The mum returned home from work to discover her home had been broken into, Birmingham Live reports.
After breaking through a rear door, burglars stole coins in a jar worth £384 and a Nintendo Switch.
But an urn containing the ashes of the mum's stillborn daughter Phoenix was also stolen from the top of a wardrobe.
Catherine, also mum to Loretta, aged eight and seven-year-old Larissa, has now made a desperate appeal for the return of the urn.
She told BirminghamLive: "I am devastated. Phoenix was my first child and was stillborn. She would have been 10 in August. I cherish her ashes which I keep in an urn in my bedroom.
"On her birthday Loretta, Larissa and myself go out bowling to celebrate. We always keep her memory alive."
The mum added: "The urn is worth nothing. They must have seen the gold colour and thought it was an expensive vase so they took it.
"It is of no monetary value but it just means the world to me. I ask these people, if you have a heart please return it.
"This has just brought everything back to me - the heartache of losing Phoenix. It is like it is happening all over again."
West Midlands Police issued an appeal about the callous burglary.
They tweeted on Thursday night: “We’re asking for your help to locate a stolen urn like the one pictured. It was taken earlier today when someone broke into a home on Clopton Road, Garretts Green in #Birmingham.
“The urn contains the ashes of the homeowner’s first child, who was stillborn almost 10 years ago, so we are desperate to get it back for her."
The police appeal added: “She is understandably distressed. Some cash and a Nintendo Switch were also stolen but the urn has very little monetary value.
“They may have already discarded it somewhere, so we are hoping that someone may come across it and contact us.
“Please, if you have seen it, or have any information, please get in touch via Live Chat on our website quoting crime reference 20/193726/22.”
