People in Suffolk are being urged to keep an eye out for a stolen rocking horse worth thousands of pounds, which was stolen from a home in north Essex.

A house in Fordham was subjected to two burglaries over the Christmas period with combined losses, including the rocking horse, totalling £45,000. A couple have now been arrested and charged.

The first burglary took place on December 16 when electrical items and furniture to the approximate value of of £26,000. Then on Christmas Eve thieves force their way through a temporary entrance which was still under repair from the previous break-in. They stole £19,000 worth of furniture including the rocking horse worth £6,000.

On Friday, January 31, detectives executed a search warrant at a cottage on Cooks Hill in Boxted and arrested a man and woman while recovering approximately 1,000 items believed to have been stolen from burglaries in both Essex and Suffolk during the last few months of 2013 and throughout January 2014.

Mark Page and his girlfriend Jolene Howard were both arrested, charged and detained prior to their appearances at Colchester Magistrates Court in early February. They are both currently remanded in court custody prior to their appearances at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday, April 14.

Mark Page, a 45-year-old unemployed man from Cooks Hill in Boxted, was charged with four counts of handling stolen goods relating to property belonging to four different owners, including items stolen from the house in Fordham.

Jolene Howard, a 30-year-old unemployed woman also from Cooks Hill in Boxted, was charged with the four same counts of handling stolen goods as well as two other counts of handling stolen goods from two separate victims and one count of being in possession of Class B drugs.

Investigating Officer, Ds Nick Eliot, said: “The rocking horse was manufactured by Stevenson Bros, who are based in Ashford, and had a name plaque with ‘Rupert’s Choice’ embossed on it. This second burglary in the space of only a few weeks has left this family devastated and, rightfully, angry.

“We recovered some photographs of the item from the property in Boxted and so want to hear from anyone who has been sold it during the past few weeks to get in touch with us. As Fordham is near to the Suffolk border, there is the possibility that residents living there may have been offered the horse.

“Sadly, anyone who has bought it is now in possession of stolen property and so are also potentially committing offences. However, more importantly, we would like to reunite this treasured, valued rocking horse with its owner and his family. The father bought it in 1996 for his youngest son and it is a family heirloom which obviously cannot be replaced. It had been a permanent fixture in the house.”

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the rocking horse are urged to contact detectives at Witham police station on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.