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© Agence France-PresseA locked cellblock at a prison in the US. A New Zealand prison suffered a reversal of the norm when it became the victim of a break-in
A New Zealand prison suffered a reversal of the norm when it became the victim of a break-in.

Police said Saturday that thieves had broken into the prison at New Plymouth, on the west coast of the North Island, just before midnight and stolen a large plasma television.

"If any members of the public saw anyone carrying a big TV at that time of night, or heard or saw anything in the area of the prison, let police know," Sergeant Thomas McIntyre said.

The New Plymouth Prison is the oldest operating jail in New Zealand, having been in continuous use since the 1860s when it was converted from an army hospital.

The old jailhouse is surrounded by a large stone wall topped with razor wire, while a newer unit is surrounded by a fence topped with barbed wire.