A student flat in Christchurch looked like it had been hit by a tornado after two cars and thousands of dollars in personal items were taken in a burglary.

Police said the break-in was reported at a Piko Cres house in Riccarton on September 1.

One of the students who lived in the house said the cars were stolen, along with a TV, vacuum, clothing, make-up and hair straighteners.

The incident happened between September 1 and 4 when the students were away during the mid-semester university break.

They returned home to find the property had been ransacked, with their belongings strewn throughout the house. 

A sliding door had been tampered with and could be opened without a key. One of the students said the keyhole had been jammed with an object. 

They described the scene inside as “like a tornado came through the house”. 

The student said thousands of dollars in items, including the two cars, were stolen.

She said they are still picking through their belongings to find out what else may have been taken. 

Her landlord has owned the property for about 30 years but had not seen a burglary as aggressive as this before.

Commenters on a social media post about the burglary said they were aware of other burglaries in the area. 

“There is (a) lovely Korean couple on Piko Cres that have been targeted twice with the same style of burglary over the years,” one person wrote. 

Another said: “We all need to watch out for each other in our neighbourhood, anything that looks out of place or person’s acting suspiciously need to be notified to the authorities, aka police, and get these mongrels locked up once and for all.” 

Acting Christchurch metro area commander, Inspector Paul Reeves, said they had received a report that two cars and other items had been stolen from an address on Piko Cres on September 1. 

Reeves said the investigation was ongoing. He urged anyone with information about the break-in to contact the police and use file number 260904/0288.

When asked if there had been any other burglaries or issues in the area recently, Reeves said “staff are not immediately aware of similar incidents in the wider Riccarton area or Piko Crescent”.