Police appeal for information after theft of rare collectable lighters in Eastham burglary

Mar 17 2010 by Lorna Hughes, Bromborough and Bebington News

RARE and valuable Zippo cigarette lighters were stolen in a house burglary in Eastham.

The distinctive lighters were part of a collection of 40 Zippo lighters, which included four very rare ones that when put together formed a forest scene displaying the faces of jungle animals. They are worth around £700.

They were stolen along with a Maurice le Croix wrist watch worth £400 and a Hewlett Packard laptop computer, during a burglary at a house in Bridle Road, Eastham, which happened sometime between 11pm on Sunday, February 29, and 7am the next morning.

The offenders broke in through a back door while the homeowners were asleep upstairs. No-one witnessed the incident and no-one was injured.

Detective Inspector Mark Tivendale of Wirral CID, said: “These lighters are very distinctive and unusual in that they are brightly patterned and when the four of them are put together they form a forest scene with animal faces in it.

““They are part of a collection of forty which the owner spent a good deal of time and money to put together.

“I would appeal for anyone who is offered them for sale in suspicious circumstances, or comes across them for sale on the internet, to get in touch with the police with any information they have and help us reunite these items with their rightful owner.”

Anyone with information about any of the offences above is urged to call Wirral CID on 777 2264 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.