A retired Australian Defence Force officer and grandfather has been left devastated by the theft of his collection of family war medals.
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ACT Policing is investigating the theft of the nine Australian Defence medals on Thursday, September 17.
Larry Bedggood had returned to his Palmerston home about 3.30pm after collecting his granddaughter from school when he realised the three sets of medals were missing.
"I returned home from picking up my granddaughter from school and opened the door to the house and realised that the doors to the hall cupboard were open and the small safe I have at the bottom of it wasn't there," he said.
"I immediately realised I'd been broken into so, I had a quick look around the house, found that they'd broken into a downstairs window, and then reported it to police."
One set of World War II medals belonged to Mr Bedggood's grandfather and were irreplaceable.
"I'm one of four generations of people who worked in the Air Force," he said.
"I didn't know he was in the air force until my uncle asked me to look after his medals after he'd died."
Another set of five were awarded to Mr Bedggood's great uncle posthumously for his service in Africa.
"When I got the medals they were still in the original, unopened envelopes because none of the family wanted to even open them so, I was the first person to actually open the medals and read the reasons for their issue and everything," he said.
The third set of five medals belong to Mr Bedggood and reflected his career in the Air Force.
Mr Bedgood said the medals, which he wore to every ceremonial military occasion, would be worth very little monetarily. He hoped they would be returned to police.
"These medals are all fairly standard medals - it's not like there's a Victorian Cross or something super rare. It's all about sentimental value," he said.
"These are my pride and joy. To get these our on ANZAC Day, to get these out on Remembrance Day, it's the pinnacle of the year. It's devastating in a lot of ways."
Police are urging anyone who may be approached to purchase the medals, or sees the medals for sale online, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via act.crimestoppers.com.au with reference number 5857567.
