A musician is making a public plea for the safe return of his tuba, which was stolen from his van near a University of Toronto residence.

Trishul (Trix) Sharma said his instrument was stolen out of the trunk of a minivan Tuesday night in an underground parking lot.

“It’s like part of you has been stolen away,” he told CTV News Toronto. “A very personal part.”

Sharma is a masters student in classical tuba at the University of Toronto. Over the last 10 years he has built up a strong reputation, even playing with the Arkells at the Juno Awards.

Sharma describes his tuba as a “4-valve Alexander CC horn” in a “Protec gig bag.” The instrument is rare and is made by a company called Alexandra, which doesn’t make tubas anymore. Sharma said that the lead pipe was lowered about six inches.

“The value, personally, I can’t even put a number on it,” he said.

Sharma rented a van to help transport gear for a festival called MusicFest Canada where he volunteered. He was recording with the Arkells last week and left the tuba inside the vehicle.

After he realized the instrument was missing, he called police and asked security to check their surveillance footage to see if there was a lead on a suspect. But, according to Sharma, the cameras in that parking garage have not been working since May 15.

“So, there’s no way for us to look back at the footage,” he said.

Sharma spent Wednesday visiting pawn shops, making phone calls, and posting messages on social media. He said he doesn’t care about the thief; he just wants his instrument back.

“The thing you stole, it’s not valuable to anyone but me,” he said. “I'd be so grateful to have it back that I would just say no questions asked, no hard feelings. Let’s just go our separate ways.”

Sharma says he has already had to cancel one gig, and he had hoped to audition for orchestras this year.