Believe me I know the feeling, and it happened to me several years back and is one of the reasons I now have my concealed carry permit..
Same senerio, it happened in broad daylight right before the holidays. My wife doesn't work and I baby sit my daughters two girls during their school break, and I had been hunting that morning out at the ranch. I had returned home late morning and put away my deer rifle, and my wife and the girls were headed out the door to do some last minute shopping. It was close to noon and I drove out to the hardware store to pick up some supplies, I was only gone no more than twenty minutes.
As I came around the corner I noticed an old faded red and rusty looking late sixties model suburban parked in front of my house, with a small young woman behind the wheel, and a small child in the back seat jumping up and down on the back seat. As I pulled into my drive I noticed half of my front door was missing, and then a young heavy set guy came out of the front door and we looked at each other face to face, and he has this defiant grin on his face I'll never forget... He jumped into the passenger side, and the woman threw the truck into reverse and backed all the way down the block as I stood and watched trying to remember details and descriptions, and taking down the license number...I had the urge to follow but my mind was swimming about now, and I rushed inside to see the damage fearing what I would find...
The good news was all my guns were locked away, but the bad news was he got my wifes jewelery, a class ring and an heirloom ring left by her aunt that was priceless.. Also a computer that was on the blink, and an old portable tv that I was getting ready to replace anyway, plus the fact that I now had to deal with the police report and calm my nerves that nobody was hurt and the fact that my wife and my grand kids were not there, and then go back to the hardware store and buy a new door and hardware.
The rage you feel is something that is hard to describe and thinking back I can't say I would have fired a shot at the vehicle getting away had I had a rifle, or set out to chase them down with a small inocent child in the car.. I now feel I did the right thing, and I came out ahead financially except for the lose of the two rings that I can never replace.
The license tag was bogus and the truck never spotted, or couple was ever caught. It was nerve wracking for weeks after as I drove all around town looking for that red suburban...
Theives are bold these days and I try to stay vigilant and notice strange people in my neighborhood. Since then I've retired I make daily rounds through the neighborhood on my bike for exercise and have actually run off several suspicious looking people slowing driving through the neighborhood and when they noticed I was following them and watching they sped away in the opposite direction.
Yard people that do tree trimming and people driving around looking for a smash and grab opportunity are usually the ones. Also neighbors, but if you get out and figure out who is who and where they live even a thief won't feel comfortable stealing from a neighbor if he's being watched..
