Cat burglar has a taste for men's pants

Residents in a New Zealand suburb have been warned there is a cat burglar on the loose - and she has a taste for men's underwear.

Brigit the cat has gathered a haul of more than 60 men's pants and socks within a couple of months.

Now his owner has gone public over her kitty's "really weird" thefts in the hope of reuniting the loot with its rightful owner.

Sarah Nathan has posted leaflets around her neighbourhood in the city of Hamilton in central New Zealand admitting to her cat's thefts and appealing for the owner to come forward.

She said that her six-year-old Tonkinese cat is a "rampant" burglar in an interview with the New Zealand Herald.

Ms Nathan added that Brigit has always brought home stolen clothes, but had recently become far more specific in her targets.

"She was much less discerning - now she's decided menswear is the thing - and it's a very specific kind of underpants that she likes," she said.

She suspects that all the items belong to a single household.

Ms Nathan is now moving out from the area - presumably much to her neighbours' relief - but is hoping to make amends before she leaves.

She posted a picture of Brigit with a selection of her recent trophies online in the hope that someone might recognise their missing undies and come forward to claim them.

"I feel so bad about it - someone is spending a fortune on underwear," she said.