A GRANDMOTHER says she feels like she has "lost a child" after her beloved exotic birds were stolen.

Lea Bradley, 75, has had her two treasured lovebirds worth £250 stolen from her home in Eglinton Road, Woolwich.

Now the devastated mother-of-six is hoping the "sad and wicked" thieves are caught and made to do some bird.

The two birds Moonlight, a green male, and Starlight, a blue female were kept in a cage in the front porch of the house.

Mrs Bradley was upstairs doing housework on the morning of April 19 when she heard the birds calling.

Thinking they were arguing, she continued vacuum cleaning and tidying the rest of the house.

It was only when she went downstairs later in the morning she realised her treasured pets had been taken.

Mrs Bradley had been given Moonlight by her daughter Gillian last year before getting Starlight to keep him company.

The pair have since spawned two baby birds, Pearl and Iris, so the theft has left their chicks without parents.

Mrs Bradley says she feels "depressed and angry".

She said: "They have been separated from their family and they miss their mum.

"The birds are like a part of my family. I love them.

"Now I feel like I have lost a child. It is awful."

Mrs Bradley, who has 41 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, says she is "confused" why anyone would want to take her birds.

She added: "What sort of person would come into someone's house and do this?

"They must be very sad people to do such a thing.

"They are sad and wicked with no regard for people's feelings."

Anyone with information about the theft should call the Plumstead police burglary squad on 020 8853 1212.