Children and teachers at a West Auckland early childhood centre have been left shell-shocked by the theft of the centre's two pet turtles.
Staff and children arrived at Flanshaw Early Childhood Centre in Te Atatū South yesterday morning to find Bill and Ben missing from their enclosure.
The turtles have been the centre's pets for five years and head teacher Sophie Henderson told TVNZ1's Seven Sharp they were a big part of the centre.
"We went to feed the turtles, as we do, and then we realised the turtles were gone," she said.
"They were our pets. They became like a part of our learning environment. They created rituals for the children. It was a settling tool, it was something they used to learn about empathy and love and care.
"And so to take that away from our learning environment is pretty sad."
The centre believes there was a degree of premeditation as well, with the thieves cutting power to the enclosure's water filter and removing that too.
"We really miss our turtles and we want them to please come back," one little girl at the centre said.
The missing turtles are red ear turtles, about the size of a hand.
Seven Sharp's presenters are outraged by the theft.
"What sort of scumbag would take the kids' turtles?" Hilary Barry asked.
"Let's get the turtles back. Contact us, contact police, let's have a happy ending," she pleaded.
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