The most appropriate word to fill in the blank is The few. 

The correct choice is The few because the sentence structure implies that all of the limited number of utensils she possessed were stolen.

• The few means "a small number, but all of them."

  • The few utensils she had, were taken away by the thief. (This means she had a small number of utensils, and the thief took every single one of them.)

OTHER OPTIONS 

• Few (without "the" or "a") means scarcely any or not many, and is often used to suggest a negative or insufficient quantity. It usually doesn't connect directly to a qualifying clause like "she had" in this complete and exhaustive manner.

• A few means some or a small number (a positive indication). It suggests that the thief took some utensils, but the structure "utensils she had, were taken away" indicates all of them.

• Some means an unspecified number or amount. While grammatically possible, The few is more precise when referring to a small, finite set that is completely affected by the action.