A panicked mum-of-two says she "hasn't slept for days" after brazen thieves tried to break into her home in broad daylight.
Stephanie Pittaras, from Bootle, says she returned from the school run on Monday afternoon to find shears in the lock on her back gate.
There was also a hammer on the floor, and the handles of the patio doors of her Watts Lane home had been snapped.
She said: "I haven't slept for days. My poor children have been petrified.
"I have lived in this house all my life and not once has anything like this ever happened.
"I had popped out to do the school run and I came back to see my doors and patio doors had been tampered with.
"My front door is on the side of the house, the patio doors are on the main road, out in the open, so whoever did this is extremely brazen.
"They also tried to kick in the back door, but that's a new door so they had no chance.
"They left their tools here so it looks like they were interrupted."
Merseyside Police said they were appealing for information.
A police spokesman told the ECHO : "At around 6pm on Monday (May 17), an occupant of a property on Watts Lane reported that she returned home and found damage to the rear doors and tools left in the garden.
"No entry was gained and door-to-door and CCTV enquiries have been made, as well as ongoing forensic enquiries."
Anyone who was in the area and saw anyone acting suspiciously, or has captured anything on CCTV or other devices, is urged to contact the police on Twitter @MerpolCC, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 with reference 21000317614
