Then they witnessed  thieves jumping the fence snatching what they could.

But nothing prepared them for what was inside, Jaye Clegg, 15, said.

"There was a man who had been dead there for  weeks," Jaye said.

"I phoned the police because we all knew something was not right.

"It was just awful.

"Once word got around there was a dead man in the home, people jumped the fence and took what they could.

"I saw people walking away with a kennel, clothes and even a whipper snipper."

In fact a 55-year-old man had been dead in the home for up to three weeks.

The tragedy started on December 15, when neighbours phoned police after seeing the man lying unconscious on his front lawn.

He was taken to Armidale Hospital but, against medical advice, discharged himself on December 28.

He died sometime between then and January 21, when neighbours again alerted police.

They opened the unlocked front door and discovered the man’s body inside.

The man lived alone with his two dogs and a cat.

Police are still trying to find his next of kin.

Luke Conway, 18, said it had been an awful time.

"We used to sometimes see him walking along the street," he said.

"Then we stopped seeing him. \

"That was about the time we all noticed the rotten smell coming from his home."

Jaye, 15, said he phoned the police about the odour.

"It was that bad," he said.

"But it was just shocking to see people jumping the fence and stealing from the home."

Another neighbour said the home had been quiet for some time but his daughter noticed the area surrounded by police about three weeks ago.

He hadn’t seen offenders entering the property, but said the home would have been a prime target for thieves because of its location.

Sunny Cove village owner Michael Hill raised the matter at a meeting of the Armidale Dumaresq Community Safety committee.

"Friends of mine who lived nearby in Golgotha Street told me about it," Mr Hill said yesterday.

"Then I realised who the man was.

"He used to walk past my home daily.

“I tried to make conversation with him, but he wasn’t the kind of chap to talk.”