Trouble brews

By Melissa Meehan
A WESBURN woman hopes to find an antique tea chest that belonged to her deceased parents, after it was taken from her home earlier this month.
The woman, who asked not to be named, returned home from a family birthday party on 16 August to find the tea chest and a number of other items missing.
“I drove up the driveway and could see broken glass along my front lawn,” she said.
“And then when I went inside and noticed everything had been moved around and the tea chest was missing.”
A knock at the door shed some light on the missing items.
She answered the door to a man who said he had bought a microwave at a garage sale at the woman’s home and was annoyed it was not working.
“I saw it was my microwave. But there had been no garage sale,” she said.
“So I contacted the police.”
Police from the Yarra Ranges Tasking Unit are investigating the burglary and believe someone entered the house after 9.30am.
Senior Constable Tim Wall said a garage sale sign had been on the highway at the front of the house and several unsuspecting buyers had bought items.
“Property including a microwave, mountain bike, and other household items had been moved to the front of the house and the front yard,” Sen Const Wall said.
“Some of the property has since been recovered.”
The woman has pleaded with members of the public to contact police if they see or have heard of the tea chest.
“It’s brown, and has carvings all over it, and probably would come up to my knees,” she said.
“It’s really important that my family is able to get the tea chest back.”
On Friday a 37-year-old man was charged with burglary, theft and obtaining property by deception and was bailed to appear at Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on 31 October.