IT was a discerning thief who stole Sinead Lohan's £1,500 custom made guitar just hours after she had played it at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.
Beside it in the boot of her car was the shiny award the Cork singer/songwriter had just picked up as New Entertainer in the National Entertainment Awards on Sunday night.
But the silver coloured trophy did not dazzle the thief who made off with the sought after Louden acoustic guitar in its hard black case. The thief also left behind a leather bag containing leads and guitar stands.
Although she was "annoyed" about the loss of her "beautiful instrument", yesterday, Ms Lohan was not singing the blues.
"I can put it into perspective," she said. "Really it's just a guitar at the end of the day. It could have been worse. "It doesn't dampen things today as I've got a shiny award here.
She bought the Canadian Rosewood guitar five months ago from the well known Belfast workshop of George Louden and Sons.
Her management is offering a £200 reward for the instrument which has no markings apart from the Louden signature on its head.
Singers Paul Brady, Brian Kennedy, Declan Synnott and Emmylou Harris are reported to be owners of Louden guitars.
The guitar was stolen at around 1 a.m. yesterday from the boot of Ms Lohan's car which was parked on Earlsfort Terrace, close to the National Concert Hall.
Ms Lohan said she had left the car for 20 minutes to collect something from the hall when the theft occurred.
"I hadn't left the boot open and the lock wasn't broken. It must have been picked. I hardly noticed it was gone," she said.
Her manager, Mr Pat Egan, reported the theft to the Garda yesterday and Ms Lohan said she was hopeful the instrument would turn up.
"I'd imagine that it will be difficult to get rid of because they are so rare," she said.
Asked if she would contemplate buying another Louden guitar, Ms Lohan paused. "I'll wait for a while to see what happens but I would like to get another one. I probably would buy one because they sound so gorgeous," she said.
Ms Lohan, who has five other guitars, said she would not be inspired by the loss to write a song. "I only write about things that affect me in a big way and emotional things," she said.