mmg.com.au

Musician and songwriter Phil Dean is appealing to the Echuca-Moama community for help finding his beloved guitar and songbook which were stolen in Echuca on the weekend.

Performing as part of the Echuca-Moama Celtic Festival with the band Zeptepi, Mr Dean said the songbook contained two years worth of work within its pages.

Containing song lyrics, music and ideas, the book is ‘‘entirely priceless’’ to Mr Dean.

The band played at the Star Hotel on Friday evening and Mr Dean believes the case was stolen as the band was loading gear into vehicles parked on the opposite side of the road.

As there was a significant amount of gear, some was left momentarily outside next to the hotel as the other items were loaded.

Mr Dean said the case was not missed until the next morning, as the band members were unloading for their next gig.

Initially they thought it had been stolen from the car, but as there were no signs of forced entry and nothing else was stolen, they think it happened as the cars were loaded.

Mr Dean said the songbook was inside the guitar case, along with a guitar strap, leads and other accessories.

The book is a black spiral notebook with a Zeptepi sticker on the front.

‘‘There’s no-one else in the world it could really belong to except for me,’’ Mr Dean said.

On Monday, he was putting the word out on social media in bid to find his songbook and guitar.

‘‘ (There’s) certainly a feeling of violation running through me at the moment.’’

He described the theft as ‘‘opportunistic’’ and encouraged anyone with information to contact him at valentichmusic@gmail.com

He estimated the guitar and the accessories would be worth about $2000.

There is a reward on offer.

Anyone with information can contact Senior Constable Matthew Goss at Echuca police station on 54822255.