Children's bouncy castle stolen from Beach Haven backyard in Auckland

Beach Haven resident Amy Wilmshurst woke to find her kids' castle had vanished from her backyard. Photo / File / 123RF

An Auckland mother has described the theft of her children's large, brightly coloured bouncy castle from her suburban home as "brazen, opportunist and sad".

On January 5, Beach Haven resident Amy Wilmshurst woke to find her kids' castle had vanished from her secluded backyard.

"Last night my kids' bouncy castle was stolen from our backyard!!! Big and brightly coloured so very noticeable, anyone see anything?" She posted on the Birkdale and Beach Haven community Facebook page.

She later posted that the castle had been seen by several people being carried down a nearby street by three teenage girls.

"Parents please speak to your kids that may have come home with something that doesn't belong to them," she pleaded.

Today, she told the Herald the castle was still missing and the North Shore suburb where she had lived for six months was "getting pretty bad now with brazen thefts".

"Definitely opportunists as it was in our backyard and couldn't be seen from the road, can be seen if you were in the walkway though so would be someone who uses that, they came in our backyard, that makes me really angry!" She posted to the community page.

"All I can do is be mindful that our things aren't safe in our own backyard which is pretty sad."

She said she'd made attempts to relocate her children's toy in the neighbourhood, but to no avail.