A Belfast man has been left distraught after his car was broken into in broad daylight on Saturday afternoon.
Joseph Fitzsimons parked at a car park on Wilson Street in Belfast city centre, near Castle Court, just before 2pm on September 24 and was shocked to return at around 4pm to discover the back window of his car had been smashed and a number of items were taken.
The items included a Sheeran by Lowden SO4 acoustic guitar, a Roland SBD1 kick pedal and a Shure SM58 microphone, as well as a list of his father's favourite songs he wrote down in his own handwriting before he passed away.
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Joseph, who looks after his mum who suffers with breast cancer, said the distress this incident has added has been "crazy."
"The back window was smashed. They saw a child seat in the back, so they knew it was a family car," he told Belfast Live.
"They took my guitar which was expensive, it was £1,000 odd pounds. But inside the guitar case there were letters from my dad who's just passed away, it's the last handwriting of all his favourite songs.
"It's hard to comprehend, to get a grasp on it. It still doesn't feel that real. The car window and stuff can be replaced, but it's the sentimental value of what was in that case and that guitar as well."
Joseph said it raises concerns about the safety of car parking in the city centre. He returned to the same car park on Sunday afternoon to have a look around and discovered another car had been broken into.
There's also an issue around a lack of CCTV in the area, he added.
He said: "The police said there's only one CCTV camera and that's up at Millfield. There's about six options they can go if they go out of the car park, so you have to pray they go up Millfield direction.
"When you pay for parking you're supposedly paying for security. It's just crazy this is a regular thing if people were able to do this again yesterday to somebody else."
Police have confirmed they're investigating the report of a theft from a vehicle at Wilson Street, Belfast, on Saturday 24th September.
A spokesperson for the PSNI added: "It was reported that sometime between 2pm and 4pm, the window of a grey Jeep Renegade, which was parked at a car park in the area, was smashed and a number of musical items taken, including a Sheeran by Lowden SO4 acoustic guitar, a Roland SBD1 kick pedal and a Shure SM58 microphone.
"Enquiries are ongoing and officers would ask anyone who has information which could assist them with their investigation, or anyone offered any of these items for sale in suspicious circumstances, to contact them at Woodbourne station on 101, quoting reference number 1254 24/09/22.
"A report can be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or you can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/."
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