A COUPLE who moved to West Devon recently believing it to be a safe place to live were ?devastated? last week when jewellery of great sentimental value was stolen after heartless thieves ransacked their home near Belstone. Thieves broke into Merv and Sarah Baldwin?s home during the day on Thursday, June 16, and police are asking for the public?s help in tracing items stolen in the burglary including a number of family heirlooms. Sarah?s grandmother died just four weeks ago, and several items of jewellery passed down to her from her grandmother and late mother were stolen by the burglars. Sarah said: ?It is pretty devastating. The jewellery had been in the family for fifty or sixty years. It is all things that cannot be replaced.? Sarah described the moment of horror when she returned home to discover their house in what they believed to be a peaceful part of Devon had been broken into and its contents rifled through by thieves. ?I came home at 2.30pm, luckily I was not on my own. There were boot marks on the front door, but they had thoroughly mangled the back door and got in that way. Everything was ripped apart and they had smashed our wedding photographs.? The Baldwins, who are foster carers, had only moved to West Devon from Torquay earlier this year, believing it to be one of the safest areas in the country to live. They bought their new home, situated between Okehampton and Belstone, just before Christmas and moved in around Easter. Sarah said: ?It was our dream home. Initially we were worried because it was so remote, but then we thought we were worrying about nothing because we didn?t feel vulnerable. ?Now we are having to think about more alarms and security systems to cover the house and an acre of ground. We didn?t want to live like that.? She added: ?It is really upsetting. We were really proud to live on Dartmoor.? Two gold heart-shaped pendants with the words ?I love you Mum? and ?Someone special? were taken, along with a silver trinket box with the inscription ?What angel wakes me from this flowery bed?? Also stolen were some distinctive watches, including a Harley Davidson watch with a gold motorcycle on the cover ? which flips up to reveal the watch face. A pair of imitation Gucci watches were taken, one with a blue face and one with a pink face, and also a silver imitation Brietling watch. Merv said he hoped whoever had stolen the jewellery would have feelings of remorse if they realised the great sentimental value the items held to them. Merv said strangely, the burglars had taken a lot of smaller items along with the jewellery, including clothes, aftershave, walking boots, an alarm clock and CDs. Anyone with information about the stolen jewellery can contact police on 08452 777444 and ask for Okehampton Police Station.
