KEY POINTS:
Online auction websites are being monitored for high-end furniture taken in a raid on an importer.
Fifty pieces of furniture - including chairs, couches and foot-rests - worth $140,000 were stolen from a shipping container at the Danske Mobler head office in Mt Eden, Auckland.
The haul included leather recliner chairs worth $3000-$5000 each.
Constable Verity King, of Avondale, said two men carried out the theft just before Christmas using a distinctive truck.
The truck's hydraulic tail lift was unique, with two vertical aluminium slats with a wood cross in the centre.
The theft was captured on security camera, but the angle did not catch the truck's registration number.
Checks at truck rental companies had not provided any leads on the vehicle, Ms King said.
The stolen items were among $200,000 worth of imported furniture inside a shipping container that was due to be inspected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The men struck at 1.24am on December 24, cutting open a lock on the container before returning at 3.47am with the truck.
They made two trips, the second at 5.05 am, each time taking 10 minutes to load the furniture.
Ms King said it would be difficult to sell the furniture, and police were working with online auction sites such as Trade Me in the investigation.
Danske Mobler was also monitoring websites.
Anyone with information can contact Constable Adrian Heffernan at Avondale Police, on 820-5744.
