An 87-year-old woman's family say a ring was stolen from her finger as she lay in bed in a Leicester hospital.
The engagement band was taken from Sylvia Davies, a bladder cancer patient from Sharnford, according to her son-in-law Peter Hagger.
He and his wife Sian found it was missing when they visited her at Leicester Royal Infirmary on Friday.
A University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust spokeswoman said the case was being investigated.
'Last present'
She said: "We take any theft at our hospitals very seriously. This case is being fully investigated in conjunction with the police."
Mr Hagger said: "There's no way the ring could have fallen off, it's very tight over her knuckle. I think it's been prised off.
"She was semi-conscious and probably wouldn't have know what was going on. If she did know, she would not have been able to shout out.
"The next day she had a stroke. Could that have brought it on? We just don't know."
He added: "I think the ring has been stolen, pulled off her finger while she lay semi-conscious. I think it's absolutely deplorable."
Sian Hagger said her father had bought her mother the ring as a replacement for the original engagement band and it had been his last present to her before his death three years ago.
Leicestershire Police said the ring went missing between 1700 BST last Thursday and 1500 BST on Friday.
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