A New Brunswick couple is in shock after someone broke into their cottage and stole everything, including the windows and doors.

"It was stripped," Sherry Canavan, of Fredericton, told CBC's Maritime Noon on Monday.

"Who does that? Who goes and steals windows and doors that are installed in a building?"

Sherry Caravan says the cottage was locked and insured, but she doubts she and her husband will ever recoup their losses. (Submitted) Canavan and her husband, Mike, have been building the cottage, located on a rural road in Morrell Siding near Perth-Andover, for the past three years.

On Sunday, neighbours discovered the cottage was windowless, doorless and empty.

"We just installed [16] brand new windows and [two] doors in the summertime," said Canavan, estimating they alone were worth about $15,000.

"They stole a bathtub shower unit, they stole a toilet, they stole a brand new basement door, several tools, a table saw, insulation. They even stole our scrap wood."

Canavan says the building was locked.

"How do you secure your dwelling any more than what we've done — put brand new doors, brand new windows?" Canavan said.

RCMP are investigating.

How can I go back up there and sit in front of our travel trailer we have and wave at people going by, 'cause it could be the thief I'm waving at? - Sherry Canavan

Canavan says she feels violated and in a fog.

"Honestly, how do you move on from this?" she asked.

"How can I go back up there and sit in front of our travel trailer we have and wave at people going by, 'cause it could be the thief I'm waving at?"

Canavan suspects whoever committed the theft must have been scoping the cottage out.

"It was someone who knew what they were doing. It was well-planned, well-organized," she said, noting it would have taken quite some time to remove all the items and would have required a vehicle large enough to transport them.

Pictures of the cottage are being widely shared on Facebook in hopes that if someone tries to sell the stolen items, they'll be recognized.

Canavan, who works two jobs to pay for the little cottage, is also asking anyone who may have witnessed the theft to come forward.

She says her insurance doesn't cover the theft, not to mention the time and labour losses.

"Who knows where we're going from here?" she said.

"I think we have to say, 'There's a loss. And who do we trust?' And try to move on. But violation is a serious thing."