Author Sandi Hall is a resident in a central Auckland apartment on Hobson Street.
Living on the 10th floor of the Imperial Garden apartments, with access by swipe card only, she believed her apartment was secure.
But Ms Hall returned home from her Christmas holiday in Wellington on Monday night to find her apartment ransacked and numerous items including electronics, jewellery, clothing and medication stolen.
Most devastating to the author was the theft of her hard drive, which contained 10 novels, short stories, poetry and articles amounting to more than 12 years of work.
"The loss was so huge I couldn't believe it. I stood there blinking my eyes, hoping it would reappear. It's such a huge blow, all those years of work."
There was no sign of forced entry and Ms Hall was told by police the thieves would have entered via an open window on her balcony, either swinging over from another apartment or creating a makeshift bridge across from a construction site directly opposite her building. Police were unable to recover fingerprints.
Ms Hall, who does not have insurance, is desperate to have the contents of her hard drive returned.
