Papamoa East resident Angela Cosgrove has the power of social media to thank for the return of her stolen Ocean Scrambler 11 kayak.

Angela Cosgrove is delighted to have her kayak back. Photo: Rachael Clarke.

The kayak, valued at $1000, was stolen from her property a month ago as she and her seven-year-old son slept in their home.

Cosgrove had planned to use the kayak the following morning, so she left it on her car, parked on her front lawn.

'The kayak was tied down, which they [the thieves] had cut with a knife. It was secured to the car with a bike lock so they must have used bolt cutters to cut that off,” Cosgrove said.

Cosgrove puts the success in retrieving the kayak down to social media.

After she shared a post about the theft on her Facebook page and the Papamoa Community Page, almost 550 people shared the link. Her Facebook plea was shared by members from the Bay of Plenty community, SunLive, fishing clubs, local radio stations, and the Tauranga Volunteer Coastguard.

'Ninety-two people shared it from my page, and 451 shared it from the Papamoa Community Page,” said Angela.

She suspects 25,000 locals would have viewed the link too.

Two and a half weeks later the kayak was discovered for sale on Trade Me, with a price tag of $450.

A string from a pirate patch Angela attached to the kayak was still hanging from the front.

'That's when I knew it was mine – who else would have that on their kayak?” she said.

'The police were helpful…although they didn't come out to the property once during the time the kayak was missing.”

Angela believes social media played a bigger role. It reaffirmed she was living in a supportive community, despite the thefts.

'People from the Papamoa community offered to lend me their kayaks, it was really nice.”

Creator of the Papamoa Community page, Rosalie Crawford, says the page has become the Papamoa village centre.

She says the page always gets a massive response from burglary related posts.

'This is not who we are. We don't want burglaries.

'So everyone wants to do their bit to make their community a great place, and a safe place, to live.”

Three men, aged 30, 31 and 22, have been arrested and charged with receiving the stolen kayak.

The 30-year-old is also facing an additional charge of procuring and possessing cannabis seed and theft of a motor vehicle.

The 31-year-old and 22-year-old are facing charges of procuring and possessing cannabis plant and an additional charge of receiving stolen property.

They are due to appear in the Tauranga Registrar's Court on April 17.