A man and woman who were part of the housekeeping staff working at David and Victoria Beckham’s English home, better known as Beckingham Palace, were arrested Friday on suspicion of theft. Victoria’s parents saw items up for auction online that looked familiar to them, so they went to the Sawbridgeworth home currently unoccupied by their daughter and family and found the same items missing.

The Beckhams currently reside in Los Angeles, where David plays for the LA Galaxy team, and employ a retinue of staff to tend the Sawbridgeworth property while they are away. The seven-bedroom house, known as ‘Beckingham Palace’, cost the couple £2.5 million in 1999 and they have spent millions more turning it into their dream home.

A source said that Mrs Beckham’s parents, Tony and Jackie Adams, recognised the allegedly stolen items immediately because many of them were unique.

“They were most personal and sentimental items collected by Victoria and David during their time abroad. Some of the things were given to them as presents and are unique because they were specially made for them. They include mostly small but expensive trinkets and some pieces which were on decorative display. Together they add up to quite a high value,” the source said.

“It seems that the property was being offered on the website to the highest bidder – and obviously it may have had the Beckham pedigree attached.”

[From The Telegraph]

The thieving couple, in their 50’s, are out on bail until November 22. It’s pretty fortunate the baubles and knick knacks were caught on the auction site before they disappeared. They could have found themselves scattered all over the world bought up by rabid Beckham fans. Of course, the rabid Beckham fans probably would have cherished the items alot more than the actual Beckhams. How sentimental is something that you leave in a house you no longer spend any time in?

Good help is hard to find, but I’m guessing it gets infinitely more difficult when you’re actually living over 5000 miles away. It’s probably been months since any of the Beckhams have set foot in the house. It’s got to be disconcerting for a aging couple to be serving the house of young, globetrotting, millionaire family and it would be easy to get bitter and think you deserve a part of it. It’s not an excuse, but it could be a motivation.

David and Victoria Beckham are shown in the header launching their fragrance, Signature, on 9/29/08. Credit: Bauergriffinonline. David Beckham is shown at an England training session at London Colney on 10/7/08. Credit: Big Pictures/Bauergriffinonline. Victoria Beckham is shown at LAX leaving for a flight to London on 10/12/08. Credit: WENN