“They ransacked the place,” Keith said.
“They really made a mess.”
Two medals from Keith’s service in the Vietnam War were taken from his garage, as well as various tools and other items.
Keith believes that the perpetrators were looking for things that could be sold.
“They were selective in what they took,” he said.
Keith said the loss of the medals left him with an unexplainable feeling that couldn’t be properly understood unless you had served in the armed forces yourself.
“I lived it, people don’t know what it’s like,” he said.
Keith said that only other service people could understand what it was like because “you’ve got a common link, you’ve both served”.
“I could buy replicas, but I don’t want to, they’re not my medals,” he said.
The two stolen medals are a Republic of Vietnam Campaign medal with a green and white ribbon and a Vietnam Medal with a blue, red and yellow ribbon.
They can be identified by Keith’s name engraved around the edge.
A neighbour saw three young men in hoodies visit the property on the night of Sunday, June 21.
The men gained entry to Keith’s garage by breaking down the door, but were unable to access the main house.
Keith said he had been disappointed in the response from police, who attended the property the next day with his son to check the site.
His son told him that the officers checked the house, but did not enter the garage.
A stash of items was found in a empty house nearby and some of Keith’s items were returned, but his medals remain missing.
Anyone with knowledge of the medals’ whereabouts is encouraged to assist in their return.
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