A COUPLE who had precious pictures of their baby boy stolen in a burglary have appealed for their safe return.

Thieves nabbed the snaps, which were stored on two laptops and backed up on an external hard drive, during an overnight break-in at their new home in Moss Street, Great Harwood.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Now, Colin and Hattie McKenzie have pleaded for them to be returned with ‘no questions asked’.

Colin, 46, said: “We were unlucky because our backup was on a hard drive which was also taken.

“We had big picture frames all ready for the prints of our wedding, honeymoon, and the baby pictures of our little boy. These are now empty in the hall.

“We don’t know what’s happening around here but we feel very unsafe.”

The pair, both science teachers at local schools, have lived in their home for around three years.

With their time split between work, renovating their home, and raising their young son Billy, two, they never got round to sorting through their pictures and filling their empty picture frames or backing them up further to a cloud service.

Hattie, 43, said: “I had a video of Billy’s first steps and I don’t have that anymore, and the pictures of him trying to feed himself have all gone too.

“It’s like somebody has robbed us of Billy’s childhood. My laptop is not worth anything to anybody else. The thieves will probably get a tenner, but it’s all our memories.

“Are they really only worth a tenner?”

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said officers were called at 7.20am last Monday by the couple, who reported the break-in at some point during the night.

She said: “The thieves got into the mid-terraced house through a back door after sneaking down a back alley and into the back garden.

“They took two bikes, one of which was later found nearby on the White Path and electrical items, including a red HP laptop and an Apple Macbook. A purse and other items were also stolen.”

Hattie said: “I just want the HP laptop and the hard drive back. They can have everything else.”

Contact police on 101.