Waikato couple 'gutted' over stolen twins' placentas

Thieves broke stole the eight-month-old twins' placentas from the freezer. Photo / Supplied

Thieves broke into a Waikato couple's home, stealing meat from two chest freezers and their eight-month-old twins' placentas.

Hayley Thorpe said she came back from holiday on New Year's Day with her partner to find their two 550L freezers cleaned out at their Te Akau home.

"They were both full to the top, we had to use a thrid freezer to put the dog's food in."

Thorpe said her partner was getting venison out of the freezer on Monday night for dinner when he realised they had been emptied.

"He said, 'the meat's all gone'...I didn't believe it."

The family's two 550L freezers were cleaned out. Photo / Supplied

The twins' mother said the placentas- which had been in the freezer wrapped in brown paper- were the first thing that came to mind.

She was "pretty upset and angry" when she discovered the placentas had been taken along with their cattle beast, pork mutton and venison.

"The meat was at least a couple of grand's worth, but it's the placentas I'm most upset about."

Thorpe said the placenta bags had bright orange stickers on them, and were labelled with her hopsital tags.

"The meat's replaceable, the placentas aren't, and I don't intend on having another set of twins any time soon."

Thorpe and her partner, who is Maori, had been intending to bury the placentas at their family farm South of Te Kuiti.

"It's a big part of [my partner's] culture to return them to the earth...We were talking about burying them with my sister's kids' [placentas] too."

The thieves emptied out two chest freezers. Photo / Supplied

Thorpe said the thieves could keep the meat, but she would love the placentas of twins Jayden and Koby back.

She added that she didn't mind how they were returned, even if they turned up in the letterbox.

"Hopefully they're still frozen, or we'll be burying them much quicker than we'd planned."

Thorpe said they'd had an "awesome response" from their neighbours, some offering them their own meat.

She felt the thieves were most likely locals.

"Someone knew we were away, and they must have known the dogs...They're huntaways and they didn't bark."

Police confirmed they attended the incident and are investigating.