When thieves broke into Donna Martin’s van, they stole more than just Christmas gifts. They took something irreplaceable.
“I woke up Wednesday morning to find that during the night my van had been broken into and some gifts were taken, but the most precious and treasured gift of all was they took my Bible,” Martin said, noting the vehicular burglary was one of two that happened on Peers Street that night.
Martin said she left her doors unlocked in the normally quiet neighborhood.
“Just the Bible itself is a treasure, but inside of it I had poems my mother wrote,” said Martin. “On the 28th of this month, it will mark the 12-year anniversary of her death. The poems are such a treasure in my life. Whenever I hold one I think of my mom holding the same paper and when I rub my hand over each word I can recall my mom alive and sitting at the table writing her poetry.”
Still in tears Friday over the loss of her mother’s poems, Donna said she has walked around her neighborhood thinking the thieves may have tossed the Bible into the grass as they were fleeing the scene of the crime. The Bible was in a purple carrier they may have been mistaken for a purse.
She says getting the Christmas gifts back is not important and it would even be OK if the thieves want to keep her Bible. The one thing she wants for Christmas is the return of her mother’s poems.
“They can leave the Bible with the poems on the porch if they want,” Donna said. “I’ve already forgiven them and I’m praying for them and hope they will open the Bible they took and read the word.”
Anyone who may find the Bible can return it by leaving it on the porch at 105 Peers Street. Anyone who has any information on the culprits are asked to call police detectives at 473-3386.
Video of Ms. Martin’s plea for the return of her mother’s poems can be viewed in the multimedia section on this website.