A flood of donations and support has come the way of the Mill family, whose home was ransacked by looters during the earthquake evactuion of Christchruch's coastal suburbs on Monday.
A Givealittle page was set up just hours after the family returned to find their home was broken into.
Within 24 hours the page has raised more then $37,000 and is still growing, including donations from as far away as the United Kingdon, Austria and Australia.
During the burglary, thousands of dollars' worth of items were stolen.
A TV was stolen from the Mills' family home (Newshub)
"They've just ransacked the house, it's horrible, it's terrible," says mother Melissa Mill.
"[We're] pretty shaken, pretty disgusted, disheartened."
Melissa Mill says she is devastated her home was ransacked (Newshub)
Prime Minister John Key spoke out on Tuesday morning, telling Paul Henry the book should be thrown at looters in a Civil Defence situation.
"What drives someone to do that?" he asked. "Doing that when someone is in the middle of a natural disaster, give me a break."
He also said one of the main messages is "they've got to live with themselves".
"Be a decent human being for goodness sake."
New Zealand First is calling for the Government to announce new laws with powerful sentencing for looters during times of civil disaster.
"These individuals are preying on others during periods of extreme stress and tragedy," says leader Winston Peters.
The 7.5 earthquake struck north Canterbury at 12:02am on Monday, killing two and forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.
Newshub.
