Madeleine photos stolen from her dad in London

A pickpocket snatched Mr McCann's wallet, which contained the pictures, from his back pocket at a Waterloo Station cash point on Tuesday.

Heart consultant Mr McCann had just arrived at Gatwick Airport to attend meetings about the global campaign to find his four-year-old daughter.

It was only his second brief trip to Britain in almost 50 days since Madeleine's abduction in Portugal.

The two photos, of which there are no copies, have not yet been released to the media.

"We don't care about the money - only getting the pictures of Madeleine back," said Mr McCann's sister Philomena.

"They were Gerry's treasured pictures and are irreplaceable."

Her brother was "desperate" to get the pictures back, she added.

"He bent down to put something in his rucksack and some dirty animal had the wallet out of his back pocket.

"Gerry just wants whoever stole them to hand them back. How can you do that to someone who has been through what he has?

"You can't believe some people can stoop so low."

In his blog on the official Find Madeleine site, Mr McCann referred to the incident in passing: "Unfortunately shortly after arriving in London I had my wallet stolen which meant I was running late."

His wife Kate, a GP, remained in Praia da Luz to look after the couple's young twins Sean and Amelie at the resort where Madeleine was snatched.

Madeleine's grandmother Susan Healey called the theft of the black leather wallet "another kick in the teeth".

"Shame on the thieves. Hopefully when they see the photos of Madeleine in the wallet they will realise what they have done."

The meetings - which included interviewing candidates to manage the Find Madeleine campaign - went well, Mr McCann said in his blog.

"The role for Kate and I in the campaign will not be nearly be so public.

"We have to balance any campaigning in the search for Madeleine with protecting Sean and Amelie and making sure their privacy is protected."