A MUSICIAN from a Colne band has been left heartbroken after his prized guitar was stolen.

Robert Style, 24, lead guitarist with Emmott and the Folkestra, was given the Crafter Electro Acoustic guitar as a gift from his aunt and uncle.

It was stolen by thieves from his mother’s house in Grosvenor Street, Colne and is worth around £500.

Robert said: “Me and the rest of the band got to a wedding at the Fence Gate Inn where we were playing, when I asked the guys if they had seen my guitar. We often pick each others’ equipment up when we head to a gig. They all told me they hadn’t seen it and I realised it must have been taken from my mum’s house. I was absolutely gutted.

“It’s not about the money, although I definitely couldn’t afford to replace it. It’s the sentimental value.”

Robert’s aunt, uncle and two cousins watched the young musician play a gig in May last year, when they decided he deserved a model less worn than the only one he had at the time.

As a surprise, the following day, the family took him to a music shop in Manchester and told him to pick out his favourite guitar.

Robert said: “There’s no-one I know with one like it. I just loved the way it sounded and everything about it. It meant a lot for them to do that for me.

“Whoever took it will have looked in the front room of my mum’s house in Grosvenor Street and seen her laptop case.

“We had just played a gig at the Queen Hotel and I left it in the hallway near the front door.

“They will have let themselves in the front door, which was unlocked, and taken it when they realised my mum’s laptop wasn’t there.” Robert has been borrowing instruments to perform since the theft. Emmott and the Folkestra will be playing at Let’s Party In The Park in Alkincoats Park, Colne, on Saturday at 8pm.

Robert’s guitar was in a black case with the band’s logo, a yellow cross made up of a guitar, bass, and mandolin. Anyone with information on the theft should call police on 101 and quote the crime number, LC-20130611-0961.