Papers and war medals belonging to renowned World War II Australian surgeon Sir Edward "Weary'' Dunlop have been stolen from a Melbourne home.
The haul was part of a wider theft of jewellery and electronics taken from the Williams Road property at Toorak this week.
Victoria Police believe the home was broken into between 7.30pm on December 18 and 11pm on December 19 while the occupants were out.
Senior Constable Matthew Kirby said the thieves removed a safe that contained numerous letters and documents belonging to and written by Sir Edward "Weary' Dunlop.
There were also medals and honours presented to Sir Dunlop, along with jewellery and electronics valued at more than $30,000.
"The safe has been taken as a whole," Sen Const Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
"It is black, long in nature and it's a safe that would usually hold firearms."
He said the victims are related to Sir Dunlop and were distraught at the theft of such sentimental items.
Police will investigate whether it was a targeted incident.
Sen Const Kirby has urged anyone who finds the safe or has information about its whereabouts to come forward to police.
"We just want to return these documents and these medals to the rightful owners, as they obviously hold pretty significant historical value," he said.
Colonel Dunlop, who was born at Wangaratta in 1907, was taken prisoner by the Japanese in Java in 1942.
The army surgeon worked tirelessly to help Australian POWs on the Thai-Burma Railway.
During the war, 22,376 Australians became prisoners of Japan, most at the fall of Singapore in 1942. Of those, 8031 (36 per cent) died in captivity due to starvation, overwork, brutality and mistreatment.
Colonel Dunlop died in 1993, aged 85, and a large bronze statue of him stands on the grounds of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
