Thieves have returned robots and other scientific gear now safely back in the hands of Dr Michelle Dickinson, above. Photo / Supplied
Thieves have returned robots and other scientific gear now safely back in the hands of Dr Michelle Dickinson, above. Photo / Supplied
Children's robots and other equipment stolen from Nanogirl's Auckland office two nights ago have been returned, wrapped in a blanket at her front gate.
Dr Michelle Dickinson, known as Nanogirl because of her nanotechnology research, said police could not believe it when she told them that she found the missing items at her gate at 7am today.
"The police were like, 'What do you mean?'" she said.
"There is this package on my doorstep and it seems to be the items," she told them.
Security camera footage clearly showing the faces of the man and woman who broke into Dickinson's Nanogirl Labs in Ponsonby at 3am on Saturday were published in the Herald on Sunday and on social media.
One of the two people caught on security cameras in Nanogirl's office at 3am on Saturday. Photo / Supplied
"After the story you guys ran, and people sharing the pictures, some time between 9pm [on Sunday] and 7am [on Monday], some of the items were returned to us, left on the doorstep, wrapped in a blanket," Dickinson said.
"There was no note, nothing. At 7am when I arrived at the office I found a carefully wrapped blanket of items."
There is a high wall outside the building, which the thieves must have scaled to break into the office with a crowbar on Saturday. But today they left the items in the blanket "outside the wall, in the shelter so it didn't get rained on".
The stolen items, including cameras, robots and electronic gear, were planned to be used for a national tour of schools starting in November.
Nanogirl Labs chief executive Joe Davis said on Saturday that the tour could be delayed because a month wasn't long enough to replace all the stolen items.
But today Dickinson said the tour would now go ahead as planned after the thieves returned about 70 per cent of the stolen items.
"It was camera gear, science equipment, robots, you name it. There was a big box of things," she said.
"Not all of them work any more, but at least we've got them back."
A man (left) and a woman were caught on camera in the Nanogirl lab at 3am on Saturday. Photo / Supplied
She said she was "a strong believer in the good of people" and was delighted that the thieves had heard her call for help after the burglary.
Davis said the team had received an incredible outpouring of support from the community since the news broke over the weekend.
"We're genuinely humbled by the kindness people have shown. I'd also really like to acknowledge and thank the wonderful New Zealand Police for their swift and expert assistance, and their efforts with the ongoing enquiry."
He said the best way people could support Nanogirl was to see the show and support a "Pay it Forward' programme which gifts a ticket to a child who would not otherwise be able to attend.
