A family has been left heartbroken after their elderly mother's wedding rings went missing at a Scots hospital.
Helen Lawrie, 82, was wearing the priceless jewellery when she was admitted to Crosshouse Hospital following a fall on August 4.
Days into her hospital stay, daughter Elaine noticed the two diamond rings were missing from her mum's hand.
Alzheimer's patient Helen, fondly known as Aileen, was given the rings by her late husband Alexander Lawrie in the 1970s and she has never taken them off in 42 years.
Elaine, 56, now fears someone at the hospital has stolen her vulnerable mother's jewellery.
She claims when she asked nursing staff about the missing rings, she was assured they would have been locked in a safe.
Elaine said: "I was told by one nurse that she held my mother's hand and saw the rings, which she described in perfect detail to me. She said they would probably have been put in the safe, but they weren't there.
"The next staff member I spoke to said the rings might have slipped off my mum's finger, despite this never happening in the past.
When the rings couldn't be located at the hospital, another nurse said the rings might have gotten lost in the laundry.
"They told me they would check if the rings had gone to the laundry department inside bedding," she continued.
"Then I was told the laundry department is based in Wishaw so they would need to look into it. I haven't heard anything since."
Aileen was discharged on August 19 and returned home to Stewarton in Ayrshire, where she lives with Elaine, her full time carer, and husband Neil, 45.
The distressed family have since called the police who are probing the alleged theft.
The sentimental value of the rings is priceless to the family who are desperate to get them back.
Elaine said: " These rings cost thousands of pounds but for us, it's the sentimental value that is irreplaceable.
"Dad bought them for mum as renewed engagement rings in the late 1970s because at the time they were married in 1958 they couldn't afford expensive jewellery. Years later he wanted her to have the rings she had always dreamed of.
"To think someone might have taken them is sickening.
"It's bad enough to leave your vulnerable mother in a hospital but you trust that she is being cared for. The staff told me they don't even take an inventory for each patient's belongings when they are admitted.
"She had never taken them off her fingers since the first day dad bought them for her."
Helen is now in the final stages of her illness and receiving palliative care.
Distressed Elaine says her mum keeps fidgeting with her ring finger and knows something is missing.
She added: "She obviously doesn't really remember wearing them all of the time because of her advanced Alzheimers but she is fiddling with her ring finger all the time and keeps looking at it. It's as if she knows something is missing.
"I'm disgusted and heartbroken.
"To see my mum's bare finger in the final stage of life now is just too much."
The family don't have pictures of Helen's rings but have shared pictures of similar rings owned by her niece.
Elaine said: "My cousin has almost the same rings, but mum's wishbone has rubies in it and the stones in her daisy are bigger. I hope the picture of these rings will jog someone's memory or help to spot them."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers are investigating the reported theft of jewellery from a hospital in Kilmarnock which was reported to have happened between 4th and 18th August 2021.
“Enquiries remain ongoing.”
Professor Hazel Borland, Interim Chief Executive of NHS Ayrshire & Arran who runs Crosshouse Hospital said they were working with police.
She said: "NHS Ayrshire & Arran has been made aware of an alleged theft of jewellery from a ward in University Hospital Crosshouse. It would be inappropriate for us to comment and we will work closely and co-operate fully with Police Scotland."
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