A woman has told of her devastation after ruthless burglars ransacked her house in broad daylight – and stole £12,000 of precious jewellery.

Lee Forfar, who lives in Brookland, Romney Marsh, says she has been left “shaken up” following the brazen raid.

Now every time the 67-year-old goes into her bedroom, she thinks of the criminals being in there rummaging through her personal possessions.

Police are investigating but have not yet caught the culprits.

It comes as figures obtained by KentOnline reveal that on average 13 residential properties in the county are burgled every day.

Ms Forfar and her partner Howard Noakes, 65, had returned home at 3pm on Tuesday to find the bedroom window “smashed in”.

“The moment I went inside I saw the devastation everywhere,” she told KentOnline.

“All the drawers had been pulled out. The house had been ransacked.

“I am feeling really depressed after the incident. They have cleaned me out. I have been left with nothing.”

Ms Forfar, who is originally from Cuba, has lived at the property for the past four years.

Mr Noakes owns the house and has lived there all his life.

Ms Forfar says the precious stones taken by the burglars “meant a lot” to her.

She says electrical items inside the house were not targeted and none of Mr Noakes’s possessions were stolen.

“The burglars mainly targeted my jewellery,” Ms Forfar said.

“These were items my late husband and mother had given to me. They were of great sentimental value to me.

“I estimate around £12,000 worth of jewellery was stolen from the house.”

Ms Forfar, who works for the Pilgrims Hospice, says the raid “is such an invasion of our personal space”.

“Every time I go in the bedroom I just think about the burglars being in there,” she said.

Despite not having “much hope” that the intruders will be caught, Ms Forfar says the police have done a “brilliant job so far”.

“It is extremely upsetting and I want to see whoever was responsible behind bars,” she said.

“We are both very shaken up after the incident. They did this in broad daylight.

“It is shocking that someone did this to us and they need to be held responsible.”

Officers have now launched an investigation into the alleged burglary and say the offence is believed to have taken place between 11am and 3pm.

A police spokesperson said: “We were contacted at 3.20pm on Tuesday, November 28, and it was reported that a house in Brookland, Romney Marsh had been broken into and jewellery stolen.

“Officers attended the scene and an investigation into the burglary is ongoing.”

Anyone with information, CCTV or dashcam footage which might assist officers is urged to call Kent Police on 01843 222289, quoting reference 46/210858/23.

Statistics provided to KentOnline by police say residential burglaries in Kent are down 1.3% year-on-year, dropping from 4,838 in the 2021-22 financial year to 4,775 between April 2022 and March 2023.

This still works out at an average of 13 burglaries in the county every day.