Burglars stole a laptop after breaking into a house in Halstead.
An Essex Police spokesman said officers received a call from a woman at about 8.50am last Friday.
She reported that she had noticed the kitchen door was open when she returned to her home in East Mill.
Once inside, she realised a window had been forced and a laptop stolen.
Elizabeth Woolnough, who also lives in East Mill, believes her garden was used as an escape route by the burglars after her garden gate was opened and a wheelie bin knocked over.
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