Buenos Aires, Nov 5 (EFE).- A group of thieves broke into the home of relatives of Pope Francis in Argentina’s Mendoza province and made off with electronic equipment and the family pet, a toy poodle, local media reported on Thursday.

Romina Ayelen Bergoglio, the pope’s grand-niece, told local media that she saw three thieves leaving her home in the town of Godoy Cruz with some of her belongings and Phil, her white 3-year-old dog.

The thieves, she told the Los Andes daily, escaped in a car that they had parked very near the residence.

The criminals took two televisions, a DVD player, two cameras, two computers, a microwave, perfumes, jewelry and the dog.

Apparently, the thieves forced their way through the fence and destroyed grillwork over one of the windows to get into the house. EFE