MONTHS of work by a historian at the Sutton Hoo project has been lost after burglars stole his computer from his Ipswich home.Dr Steven Plunkett launched a desperate appeal today after a computer containing months of work was stolen from his Ipswich home.
By Matt Eley
MONTHS of work by a historian at the Sutton Hoo project has been lost after burglars stole his computer from his Ipswich home.
Dr Steven Plunkett launched a desperate appeal today after a computer containing months of work was stolen from his Ipswich home.
He is making the plea after a laptop which held information, including five chapters of a book he is writing, was taken in a burglary.
The 44-year-old returned home on Thursday > to discover his Henley Road house had been broken into.
The only item taken in the raid was the computer, which contained the first 20,000 words of a book on Anglo Saxons in Suffolk. Dr Plunkett, who has been working on the book since Christmas, has no back-up copy of the data.
He said: "It's like they (the thieves) reached into the middle of my life and took the thing that was most precious."
He added he is not as concerned about the computer but is desperate for whoever has it to somehow return his work to him.
He said: "I feel sad that people have to steal but I would urge whoever has the work to get it back to me."
Dr Plunkett, who has worked at Ipswich Museum and been involved in the Sutton Hoo exhibition, is due to be finish the book by the end of the year for the publishers Tempest.
He said whoever has the computer will recognise the document by the first chapter's title, Roman Legacy.
The computer also contained other files of importance to Dr Plunkett including administrative documents.
He said: "I suppose you just have to take it on the chin but really it is a huge blow.
"It's not just a book of facts but really piecing together a story about our history. Writing something like that requires a lot of creative energy and soul searching.
"I will now have to try and find that energy again and re-write the book."
Police are currently investigating the burglary which is took place on Wednesday night.
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