Boomerang Street resident Vicki Brady said the incident happened during the night on July 26, which was a windy night, making it hard to hear what happened.

She said someone came on to their land, broke into their shed and took off with a new generator, a chain saw, hammer drill, two other new drills and a spanner set.

Ms Brady woke the next morning and opened her kitchen blind to see her gates were opened, which alerted her to what had happened.

The incident left Ms Brady feeling ill.

“You go a couple of nights without sleep,” she said. “It sickens me to think these undesirables can enter as they wish, when they wish, then leave with your hard earned possessions.

“They’ve invaded your privacy. It just leaves you with a gut feeling.”

Ms Brady and husband James have since installed cameras and extra lighting.

But Ms Brady believed the perpetrator has since been back in the area, with her neighbour also experiencing damage to their property two weeks later, but nothing was stolen.

The incident was reported to police who undertook a forensic investigation. The results of a fingerprint examination are pending.

Central Hunter crime manager Detective Inspector Mitch Dubojski said while theft from motor vehicle was by far the biggest crime issue in Cessnock at the moment, there was a little bit of a trend relating to theft from dwelling.

He encouraged people to be aware of who should and shouldn’t be in their street, and be vigilant in reporting suspicious behaviour to police.

“The more people we have looking and keeping an eye out, the better the community will be,” he said.