Alexandria Police Officer Cynthia Hurley gave a new money-filled Pikachu piggy bank to a boy after thieves stole his from his family's apartment. (Alexandria Police Department)

“Pikachu Returned!”

So read the headline in a Facebook post from the Alexandria Police Department after an officer helped a boy whose piggy bank was stolen from his family’s apartment.

Police say someone broke into the family’s apartment late last month in the 5400 block of Bradford Court and stole the yellow piggy bank, which was shaped like the popular Japanese character Pikachu from the Pokemon video games and TV shows and shared by the boy and his younger brother.

Officer Cynthia Hurley, an 11 1/ 2 -year veteran of the department, said that although she was not the responding officer to the burglary, it touched her when she heard about it the next day.

“I was a little bit heartbroken,” she said Tuesday. “The thought of a child losing something precious to them, it really, truly bothered me.”

Police officers from Alexandria gave their own money and put it into the piggy bank. (Alexandria Police Department)

Hurley, who said she has three children of her own ranging in age from 16 to 23, said she decided she wanted to “do something to restore some peace of mind to both boys.”

So she searched online and used her own money to buy a new, similar Pikachu piggy bank. Then she went to her fellow officers, asking them to put their own money in it for the boys.

She went to three groups around the department and collected an undisclosed amount of money from about 24 officers, said Crystal Nosal, a spokeswoman for the department.

Hurley said she didn’t know how much was in the piggy bank because she asked officers to put money directly inside. Within a few hours, however, the bank was full, she said.

“I walked around and told them what I was trying to do,” Hurley said. “They got their spare change and dumped it in the bank.”

And if the officers didn’t have spare change, she said, “some put in ones, fives, tens and twenties.”

Hurley then surprised the family. She called the boys’ home last weekend to make sure they were there. Then she showed up at their door with the money-filled piggy bank and a handful of officers who had donated money.

The boy and his family smiled in several photos as Hurley gave him his new piggy bank. Police declined to release the names and ages of the children.

She said the older boy said “thank you” repeatedly, as he smiled and hugged the new Pikachu piggy bank.

“It’s the best feeling in the world to see a smile on a child’s face,” Hurley said.

On its Facebook page, the department wrote, “Kudos to Officer Hurley and her fellow officers for helping restore a piece of childhood and showing this family that people care.”