AP

South Brunswick, Dec 31: Local police said it was a typical holiday Grinch tale: A home was broken into on Christmas Eve, and wrapped presents were stolen off a kitchen table.

Little did they know the culprits were kids.

Authorities said on Friday that a 9-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy used a gift card to pick the lock on the back door of a home a block away. They then took about $200 in wrapped presents that were located on a kitchen table, including Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers CDs.

The couple who lived in the home returned from some Christmas Eve shopping to find the house broken into, and the presents gone, South Brunswick police detective Jim Ryan said.

One of the children's relatives who also lived in the neighbourhood spoke with the couple and realised the gifts matched some mysterious extra presents the children appeared to receive on Christmas.

The relative contacted the children's mother, who got the truth out of them on Wednesday, and then contacted police.

"A 9- and 5-year-old would never be on our suspect list. For a burglary? Maybe for taking a bike or something like that, but not for a burglary," Ryan said.

The children's names were not released, and charges are not planned.