23 December,2011 11:31 AM IST | | ANI
Peter Crouch and his wife Abbey have been left "distraught" after burglars broke into their new house in Prestbury, Cheshire.
The Stoke City striker and the British lingerie model discovered the break-in at their 4.5-million-pound mansion, on Tuesday evening after returning from a day out.
According to police, the house had been given "a pretty untidy going-over".
Christmas presents, a watch and a number of rings belonging to the footballer's wife, were reportedly stolen.
The couple's nine-month-old daughter, Sophia, was staying with Abbey's mother at the time.
"Abbey and Peter must have disturbed the burglars when they heard their car coming up the drive," the Daily Mail quoted a close friend as saying.
"They believe there were several men in the house."
The couple bought the six-bedroom home, which has a gym, cinema and swimming pool from ex-England cricketer Andrew Flintoff three months ago.
"The couple discovered the break-in after they returned to the house at around 7.20pm on Tuesday night," a police source said.
The house had not been ransacked but had been given a pretty untidy going over and there were several items missing.
"We have no value on the missing items as yet but it was obviously an unpleasant thing to come home to and police have launched an investigation," the source added.
It is not the first time Peter Crouch has been targeted by burglars, as he was raided at his previous home in Alderley Edge in 2006.
