Ipswich cat burglar Theo returns to thieving ways Published duration 25 December 2015

image copyright Rachael Drouet image caption Theo the cat and his haul of toy foodstuffs

A pet cat with a track record for stealing has slipped back into his criminal ways despite convincing his owner he was a reformed character.

Kleptomaniac Theo, from Ipswich, first hit the headlines in 2013 for stealing Christmas decorations.

Recently he has been stealing toy food, including a pineapple and an aubergine.

"We are deeply ashamed of our cat, especially as he had convinced us that he had changed his criminal ways," his owner wrote to neighbours.

Rachael Drouet created a leaflet for her neighbours in a bid to reunite the stolen items with their rightful owners.

"This year has been relatively quiet, save for some Bettaware catalogues and the odd flat balloon," the leaflet read.

"Until a few days ago when he started bring home toy food.

"So far we have cheese, a green pepper, fish, a pineapple, an aubergine, and a felt basket to put them all in."

image copyright Katie Drouet photography image caption Owner Rachael Drouet said Theo had a varied history of nicking neighbours' belongings

Theo, a five-year-old Siamese cross, also managed to bring home a child's body warmer.

Earlier this year, he stole a catalogue from a house down the street owned by a policeman, which Ms Drouet said "wasn't ideal".

Among the items stolen in the last couple of years are muslin cloths, fluffy pens, a USB phone charger cable and a child's piece of art.

Theo also took to stealing Christmas decorations from neighbours' trees.

Ms Drouet said this year she managed to reunite items from Theo's haul with their rightful owners before too long.

"I wrote the flyers and then luckily managed to find out who all the things belonged to," Ms Drouet said.

"You get tired of knocking on neighbours' doors and saying 'me again'".

image copyright Rachael Drouet image caption Rachael Drouet attempted to track down the rightful owners of her pet's haul of stolen goods