Cheryl and Ashley Cole's £3.5 million mansion burgled

Thieves break into the Cole's £3.5 million mansion in an attempt to steal Cheryl's wedding rings

Just hours after Cheryl Cole escaped the media attention surrounding her troubled marriage to Ashley Cole, arriving at LA airport without her wedding ring, opportunistic thieves tried to burgle the the couple's £3.5 million Surrey home.

According to The Sun, Chelsea defender Ashley Cole was woken at 4.30am as thieves forced a window of the mansion.

Hearing noises in the house, he called the police, saying, 'Please come quick, someone's trying to break in.'

Luckily for Ashley, it seems the attempt was unsuccessful as when police got to the scene of the crime the thieves had fled. It wasn't clear whether anything had been stolen, but police were reportedly convinced that they were after Cheryl's two huge diamond wedding rings with a combined worth of around £300,000.

The news will come as a real blow for poor Cheryl who is having to deal with rumours of her husband's infidelity after it was revealed that Ashley had sent lewd pictures of himself to a topless model and allegations of an affair with another woman.

Even worse, the police were said to be investigating a theory that the burglars may have had links to the Cole's inner circle. It seems that the footballer had planned to stay at his mother's home in order to avoid the scandal surrounding his marriage, but at the last minute he changed his mind and remained at his marital home to nurse his ankle injury.

'It cannot be coincidence that people attempt to break into the family home when both of them are due to be out of the UK,' a police source told The Sun.

'And it happens when there is widespread publicity that Mrs Cole is not wearing her wedding ring. 'Whether they were acting on some kind of insider information is certainly possible.'

Forensic officers were at the mansion yesterday searching for clues, while Cole remained at his home.

SEE CHERYL'S STYLE HIGHS AND LOWS

CHERYL AND OTHERS PERFORM AT THE BRITS

MORE CELEBRITY NEWS