London, Oct 31 (IANS): England Test captain Ben Stokes on Wednesday took to social media to appeal for information about some masked people who burgled his house and escaped with jewellery and other valuables. Stokes said his motivation behind seeking information from the public is to catch the people who committed the burglary.

"On the evening of Thursday, October 17 a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the North East. They escaped with jewellery, other valuables and a good deal of personal items. Many of those items have real sentimental value for me and my family. They are irreplaceable," Stokes said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, titled "Appeal".

"This is an appeal for any help in finding these people who carried out this act," wrote Stokes, urging people to pass on any relevant information regarding this crime to the Durham Constabulary.

The 33-year-old confirmed none of his family were injured physically by the incident but has been impacted emotionally and mentally.

"By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and 2 young children were in the house. Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm. Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been," wrote Stokes in a stunning disclosure.

Stokes was in Pakistan around that time, leading the England men's cricket team in a Test series against the hosts. England lost the series 2-1 despite fighting back after losing the first Test in Multan.

Stokes said he is releasing photographs of the stolen goods to find the culprits. "I am releasing photographs of some of the stolen items - which I hope may be easily identified - in the hope that we can find the people who are responsible for this.

"Although we have lost cherished possessions, to be clear, my sole motivation in sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material items. It is to catch the people who did this," said the England Test captain.

In the same post, Stokes thanked the police service for supporting his family in his absence. "Finally, I want to say thank you to the police service. Both now and whilst I was away in Pakistan, their support for my family has been outstanding. They continue to work incredibly hard in trying to find these people," wrote Stokes.

Stokes has recently recovered from a major injury and was on his first tour with the England cricket team.