A SIX-YEAR-OLD girl was heart-broken after thieves plundered her garden and took her beloved rabbit.

Smoky the rabbit was taken from his hutch in St Stephen's Road, Acomb, York, on Friday night. A raincover on top of the hutch was held down by garden chairs but the thieves threw these across the garden before escaping with Smoky.

Tracy Neilson said her daughter, Marie, was desperate for her rabbit to be returned. She has even contacted all the pet shops in the area to see if he has been sold for money.

She said: "He is so friendly. She had a lot of fun with him and told him her secrets.

"It is sick for someone to go into a garden and steal a child's rabbit like that."

She said that the thieves left another rabbit, a female called Sandy, in her hutch.

Marie, who dances with the Isobel Dunn School of Dance, was given Smoky as a birthday present when she turned six.

Anyone who has any information about the whereabouts of Smoky should phone York police on 01904 631321.

Updated: 09:52 Monday, May 05, 2003