Senior Constable Mike Colligan said a Roxburgh woman whose husband was in Dunstan Hospital was taking him home for the weekend and they went to the Alexandra Warehouse and bought $196 of goods.
Her husband was in a wheelchair and the woman pushed him and the trolley to the corner of Limerick and Tarbert Sts, then collecting her car and returning and assisting him in to the car.
She drove off forgetting the goods in the trolley and when she returned two minutes later the goods had been taken.
Snr Const Colligan said it was a "sad story'' and asked anyone with information about the theft to contact police.