Former British athlete Kelly Sotherton has Commonwealth Games gold medal stolen during raid on her home

• e-mail

A British athlete has issued a distraught plea to find her Commonwealth Games gold medal after it was stolen from her home while she was upstairs.

Kelly Sotherton won the heptathlon gold in Melbourne in 2006 and it remained one of her most treasured honours after she retired from the sport in 2012.

Last night it was taken from the 38-year-old's home in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, along with a laptop computer and cash.

Distraught: Kelly Sotherton had her heptathlon gold medal from the 2006 Commonwealth Games stolen while she was upstairs. Pictured, the former athlete receiving the medal (left) and realising she had won (right)

Appeal: Ms Sotherton issued this distraught appeal on Twitter, which was picked up by hundreds of users

Police said the homeowner was upstairs at the time and only reported the theft at 8.50am.

The burglary has now prompted Ms Sotherton and her partner, triple jump gold medal winner Nathan Douglas, to make an appeal for the stolen medal on Twitter.

'Been burgled,' Ms Sotherton wrote. 'One thing stolen was my Commonwealth gold medal from Melbourne 2006. PLEASE RT HELP ME FIND IT.

'If you are offered this medal or any other medals (national golds/silvers/bronzes) please contact Crimestoppers'.

She was inundated with responses today, including by the crime prevention charity.

The organisation advertised her appeal and told her: 'We're sorry to hear about your medal being stolen. Remember anyone with info can contact us anonymously on 0800 555 111.'

Ms Sotherton tweeted her thanks for her fans' help after the appeal was repeated by Crimestoppers

The track and field star later gave a message to her well-wishers, writing: 'I wish I could reply to all of you.... So I'll send this to all of you tweeters for your help. Fingers crossed x'.

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: 'We were called at 8.50am today to reports of a burglary in Sutton Coldfield overnight. A gold medal, laptop and cash were stolen from the address.

'Enquiries are ongoing, however there have been no arrests at this stage. Anyone with information should call Birmingham North police on 101.

'The occupiers of the house were upstairs at the time.' 

Born on the Isle of Wight, the athlete moved to the West Midlands in 1998. 

Ms Sotherton collected a host of prizes in her athletics career, but the gold Commonwealth medal was one her biggest triumphs.

Ceremony: The former heptathlete's win in Melbourne in 2006 (pictured) was a crowning moment in her career

Torched: The raid came ten months after cars belonging to the athlete and her partner, triple jump gold medal winner Nathan Douglas, were torched outside her home in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands

She also won bronze at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and was fourth in Beijing in 2008. 

However, she announced her retirement from the sport after failing to recover from back surgery in time for the London Olympics.

The theft comes ten months after cars belonging to Sotherton and her partner were gutted by fire outside her home.

The couple revealed their £15,000 Honda Civic was the first car to go up in flames at 3.30am, and the fire spread to a £20,000 Audi A3 which was parked next to it.

It was suspected the blaze could have been caused by arson or a technical fault. However, a police spokesman said today that arson had later been ruled out.