Thieves tidied up after themselves

They took gold cufflinks and dress studs worth £500 from the house in Haywards Heath, replacing the empty boxes where they had found them.

Owner Nick Lightbody said his wedding ring was also taken from a drawer in his bedroom.

The burglary is believed to have happened on Friday while the property in Issacs Lane was empty.

Mr Lightbody and his girlfriend only became suspicious on Sunday morning when they realised £100 cash was missing.

Mr Lightbody, 48, said: "At first my girlfriend thought she had mislaid the cash. But on Sunday I couldn't find my cufflinks so I checked the boxes where I kept the two sets of dress studs. They were both empty.

"When I looked a bit more in the drawer I realised my gold wedding ring had also gone, along with my spare credit cards."

Mr Lightbody, a retired solicitor, said the thieves had been careful to leave his home as they had found it.

He said: "If they hadn't taken the money we might not have realised we had been burgled for some time."

The cufflinks were a present from Mr Lightbody's mother and had previously belonged to her brother, an RAF navigator who disappeared over Germany during the Second World War.

A set of gold dress studs stolen in the raid had been in Mr Lightbody's family for more than 100 years.

Mr Lightbody said: "The items taken had huge sentimental value. The dress studs which belonged to my mother's father were all I had left of that generation of my family."

The older dress studs have an Isle of Man hallmark, Crossley, on them. The second set are plainer with the hallmark Charles & Co and are believed to have been made in Liverpool in the Thirties.

The cufflinks are rectangular with an engraving of the sun's rays and each is joined with a gold chain.

Mr Lightbody believes the thieves entered by the front door.

PC Kris Wales, of Haywards Heath police, wants to hear from anyone offered or sold the unusual jewellery. Contact him on 0845 6070999.