A young woman returned home on Tuesday evening to find her family’s home ransacked and items, including a watch worth thousands of pounds, stolen.

22-year-old Becky Powell’s parents Susan and Gary have lived in Hilton Close in Faversham for more than 13 years and have never been targeted like they were this week.

A Breitling watch, designer handbags, laptops and an i-Pad were stolen from the property in a quiet cul-de-sac off the Canterbury Road, in a burglary believed to have happened between 4pm and 6pm.

Within the next 12 hours, another house was burgled in Canterbury Road and there was an attempted burglary in Windermere, but it is not known if the three are linked.

It is reported that the Canterbury Road burglary happened between 4.10pm and 5.40pm on Tuesday and an iPad mini, Beats by Dre headphones, Macbook pro, Dell laptop and an iPod Touch were all stolen.

Susan Powell has said that nothing like this has ever happened to her and said that police were even surprised, describing the area as “particularly safe”.

She said: “They have absolutely trashed upstairs. They have emptied the wardrobes, broken my daughter’s wardrobe, and pulled everything off the shelves and out of the drawers.

“We just feel really lucky that they were not still there when Becky got home.”

“We just feel really lucky that they were not still there when Becky got home.”

Gary’s Breitling watch was stolen, a precious gift given to him by Susan on a weekend away in New York.

A designer bag, bought from Maceys in New York, had also been stolen, along with a Ted Baker clutchbag.

Susan added: “The watch was what really hurt as it was incredibly special. My dad died last year and there was lots of our photographs just chucked on to the floor.

“It’s a violation of our privacy and of our home and it’s a horrible feeling.

“I think there must be other stuff missing but I haven’t been able to put my finger on it.”

Neighbours reported seeing a Red BMW and three men walking off in different directions but no arrests have been made.

Police spokesman Carly Wymark said: “We are investigating a report of a burglary in Faversham and inquiries are ongoing.”