A GRAPHIC designer has told how thieves turned his pride and joy sports car into an empty metal shell - stealing everything from the steering wheel to the gear stick.

A GRAPHIC designer has told how thieves turned his pride and joy sports car into an empty metal shell - stealing everything from the steering wheel to the gear stick.

The engine, boot lid and spoiler were also taken from Adrian Lawrence's Toyota MR2.

The Bury St Edmunds man had parked the blue sports car outside his office in a locked compound, but thieves cut their way through the fence before dismantling the vehicle.

The AA said last night it believed it was a case of “ransack to order”, while Mr Lawrence is counting the cost because his car was uninsured and declared off-road.

The 22 year-old had spent £14,000 and a year-and-a-half working on the vehicle with new additions to the engine and bodywork, but the improvements caught the eye of criminals.

“About four weeks ago I came to work to find the bumpers and trim missing,” he said. “Then about a week later they came back and took all the other expensive parts including the engine.

“Just looking at it you wouldn't know the engine was valuable but they knew what they were doing - it was unbelievable. The forged pistons inside were valuable and came from America.

“When they took the car they took everything I had. I am absolutely gutted - it was bad enough the first time.”

However, Mr Lawrence said he was amazed the thieves managed to take almost all of the parts without breaking and damaging them.

Luke Bosdet , spokesman for the AA Motoring Trust, said: “There are big bucks in these thefts and it sounds as though this car was ransacked to order.

“Such thefts are carried out to avoid taking parts of the car with the vehicle identity number to put the parts in another vehicle which would be untraceable.

“There is every chance that this man was spotted in the street and followed home.”

He said the practice of stripping cars for their parts and avoiding security tagged items was a constant threat to people using high performance and expensive components.

It is believed a team of thieves spent several hours stripping the car of components and hoisting them up a bank and through a hole in the fence and on to a waiting lorry.

The first raid happened between July 27 and the morning of July 31 at the locked compound on Eastern Way industrial estate in Bury. The second theft at the same location happened over the weekend of August 25.

Items taken from the vehicle also included a CD case containing 30 CDs and the stereo.

A spokesman for Suffolk police urged anybody with information or saw something suspicious at the time to contact Sgt Ann Naylor at Bury police station on 01284 774100.