Cancer kid targeted by Vic thief on NYE

The theft of a mobile phone from a 12-year-old Melbourne cancer patient while she watched New Year's Eve fireworks with her mum has been described as "disgusting" by police.

Her new iPhone, a Christmas present, was swiped from the girl's bedside at the Royal Children's Hospital while she was away from her bed to watch the fireworks.

The Stanhope girl was receiving her first chemotherapy treatment after a recent cancer diagnosis.

Constable Luke Schwarze says the girl was given the phone for Christmas so she could keep in touch with friends and family back at home while she was in hospital.

"To enter a hospital ward where children suffering from serious illnesses are being treated to steal a phone is disgusting," he said in a statement on Friday.

"This family has had to leave their home and stay in Melbourne while the little girl receives cancer treatment and this is the last thing they need to be dealing with."