Theo the 'cat burglar' steals child's artwork and hand puppet

Theo has stolen a "handful" of other cats' toys

A man has taken to Facebook to try to track down the owners of items stolen by his cat.

Theo, a three-year-old Siamese cross, has returned home with items including a phone charger, a hand puppet, a pen and a child's artwork.

Paul Edwards, who lives in Ipswich, says his neighbours are understanding.

"We take photographs of things that Theo has brought home and put them up on Facebook, saying 'Excuse me, do any of you recognise these?'," he said.

'Neighbourhood celebrity'

Mr Edwards said he and his girlfriend Rachael Drouet started noticing cat toys around their house which they "didn't recognise".

He said: "We would pick one up and say 'Did you buy this?' And we'd say 'No'.

"We sheepishly had to go to our neighbour's with a handful of cat toys, which turned out to be his."

Mr Edwards said things "escalated" after that.

"We've had things like muslin cloths, fluffy pens, a USB phone charger cable, a child's piece of art which they'd obviously spent most of the morning making - a glorious thing with lots of different colour feathers and leaves stuck to it, lots of things.

"We've got some other neighbours who have young children and quite like the cat so [they] had encouraged him into the house.

"He started stealing things from them and it kind of went downhill from there."

Ms Drouet said she felt sorry for their neighbours, one of which is a household with young twins.

"Last month he broke into their home, ran upstairs and nicked a fluffy pink pen from the twins' bedroom right in front of them," she said.

"Luckily they think it's hilarious."

Ms Drouet said Theo was becoming a "bit of a neighbourhood celebrity for all the wrong reasons".

"We live in hope that one day he'll bring back an iPad or something of significant value," she said.