LONDON (AP) — England cricket captain Ben Stokes says masked burglars stole jewelry in a break-in at his home while his family was in the house and he was away in Pakistan.

Stokes announced on Wednesday that the break-in took place Oct. 17 at his Castle Eden home in northeast England. Among the items taken was his OBE, or Order of the British Empire, a medal given on behalf of the country.

“By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and 2 young children were in the house. Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm,” he wrote on X. “Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.”

The thieves took jewelry and “other valuables and a good deal of personal items. Many of those items have real sentimental value for me and my family. They are irreplaceable.”

Stokes said he went public with the news in a bid to help police catch the burglars. He released photos of some of the stolen items.

“Although we have lost cherished possessions, to be clear, my sole motivation in sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material items. It is to catch the people who did this,” he wrote.

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