Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Bensemann and Sergeant Rangi Maniapoto carry medals into the National Army Museum in Waiōuru, during a pōwhiri (welcoming ceremony) for the medals' return on 21 October 2008. The 96 medals, including nine Victoria Crosses, were stolen from the museum in December 2007. In February 2008 TV3 broadcast an interview between journalist John Campbell and a man presented as an anonymous suspect in the case. The government took TV3 to court, in an unsuccessful attempt to force Campbell to reveal the interviewee's identity. The case illustrated the importance of the confidentiality of sources to the process of news gathering.

The medals were recovered in February 2008. James Kapa and Ronald van Wakaren were convicted of the burglary in 2010.