A former army NCO fears his cherished medals may be gone for good, after he lost them on Remembrance Day.
Perthshire man Neil Melloy, who served for 15 years with the Royal Engineers, said he felt sickened when he realised the prized belongings were missing.
He gained four awards over the course of his military career: the General Service medal with Northern Ireland clasp, the Nato Former Republic of Yugoslavia medal, the Queen’s Jubilee medal and an accumulated service medal.
He had proudly displayed them during a service at St John’s Kirk in Perth on Sunday November 9, before travelling home.
However, the 40-year-old was horrified to find his chest bare when he removed his jacket at his Murthly address.
Mr Melloy said: “I had them on the front of my suit and put my overcoat on. I got the bus home and when I got there, I took off my coat and they were gone the medals had come off the pin bar.
“The medals mean quite a lot to me they are of sentimental value. I was gutted when I realised they were missing.”
Mr Melloy, who joined as a sapper at the age of 16 and rose to the rank of corporal, said he tried his best to track down the missing medals, to no avail.
“I am more annoyed than anything else,” he added. “I would have thought that somebody would have had the decency to hand them in.
“I’ve phoned the police and Stagecoach and the ex-servicemen’s club that I’d been in but they’ve found nothing.
“I’ve been in all the pawn shops and left my name and number in case anyone flogs them. I’ve retraced my steps and chapped on doors along the way but I’ve had no joy at all.
“I can get replicas but mine have my name, rank and number engraved on them and I’m worried I’m not going to get the originals back.”
Mr Melloy, who served in Bosnia and Kosovo, is appealing for anyone who may have found the medals to return them to him. He can be contacted by emailing neilmelloy74@hotmail.com.