A FAMILY has been left distraught after a thief broke into their garden to steal more than £1,000 worth of koi carp.
Kathryn Aynsley believes the offender crawled under a fence panel in the middle of the night to get to the ornamental pond.
The 26-year-old mum, of Talke, thinks they are deliberately being targeted after a similar break-in at their Swan Close home three months ago although on that occasion nothing was taken.
Among the prize fish pinched in the latest incident was a 10-year-old changoi koi which is worth £1,000 on its own.
Kathryn, who lives with her parents, said: “My parents let the dog out at about 10pm and then sometime during the night whoever it was wedged the fence panel up and crawled underneath.
“A lot of the plants had been stood on and there was water all along the decking, it was drenched.
“It happened before three months ago but they didn’t manage to steal anything.”
The theft took place in the early hours of yesterday.
Two other fish were taken including a 15-year-old blonde ghost Koi and a large 20-year-old golden Orfe worth about £30.
Kathryn added: “My dad invested in the chagoi because it’s quite a rare colour.
“It was over 12 inches long and is quite friendly. He recognises people as a source of food. The blonde ghost Koi was not as expensive but because of how big he had got, it would have been a lot to sell on.
“We have had a pond since I was little. We started with a goldfish pond and then started to buy more expensive fish. We buy them little for about £20 to £50 and then the bigger they get the more expensive they are.”
The family have spent a lot of time and money making sure their fish are kept in the correct environment with a special filter system and UV lights.
They have already increased security in the hope of deterring thieves in the future.
Kathryn added: “There are about 10 fish in the pond but the thieves took the most valuable ones. They must have known what they were doing.
“It has been quite stressful because now we are worried they will return. If we make the garden even more secure they will probably just find another way in. My mum was upset and my dad was fuming. He’s very passionate about his fish. The chagoi was my 14-month-old’s favourite fish because it used to suck his finger.”
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “We received a call just before 7am on Tuesday reporting theft of three koi carp from a pond.
“Offenders got into the back garden between 11pm on Monday night and 6am. Patrols have attended and spoken to the owners.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 63 of September 9.
Something fishy?: Police hunt thief who netted £1k of koi carp from Talke garden
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