A family, including two children, have been terrorised by a group of intruders during a home invasion which left a man seriously injured.

Five people allegedly broke into a home on Oxford St in Kew East, Melbourne, about 4am on Sunday.

They arrived in a car, jumped over a front fence and smashed the window of a study to get inside.

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A husband and wife were awoken by the sound and confronted by the offenders.

Two of the offenders were armed with a machete, a knife and garden sheers belonging to the family.

The couple were put in separate rooms, with the 34-year-old woman kept in the room where her children, aged two and three, were sleeping.

A scuffle broke out between the 39-year-old husband and the offenders, during which he was stabbed 11 times suffering injuries to his head, face and arms.

“They’re not used to people fighting back, and this homeowner fought back,” Detective Sergeant Leeanne Trusler said.

The man’s parents, who were also living at the home, went to his aid but were also attacked.

At one point the wife had come out of the room with her children to check on her husband, Trusler said.

One of the offenders pointed a knife at her and demanded she go back inside the room.

“These males have then asked the family if there’s a safe inside the house, which they said there wasn’t,” Trusler said.

The intruders then left the home via the garage, with four jumping in the family’s BMW.

A fifth offender left the home in the car the intruders all initially came in.

About 30 minutes later, the BMW was involved in a crash in Sunshine, with the stolen car found dumped on Christie St in Deer Park.

Three people, a 17-year-old boy, 24-year-old Caroline Springs man and a 16-year-old boy, were arrested a short time later on Hamilton St.

The 39-year-old father who fought back was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

He suffered a fractured arm, will require surgery to his eye and was treated for his stab wounds.

The 34-year-old wife and mother was treated for minor injuries while her in-laws, aged 69 and 70-years-old, were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The grandparents have since been discharged from hospital.

A fifth adult and the two children were not injured.

Trusler said there was nothing to indicate the attack on the family was premeditated.

She said a home invasion like this was “different” and that usually intruders will just sneak into home, steal what they want, and then sneak out.

“I’ve never seen anything like this, this is awful. A family … asleep in their home, nearly four o’clock in the morning, the house is secure, they’re meant to be safe,” Trusler said.

“There’s no logic.

“They’ve just chosen this house and they’ve just destroyed a family.”

The two children slept through the ordeal, Trusler said.

She said the family were struggling however their neighbours were being extremely supportive.

“You should be safe, you shouldn’t be disrespected in your home and having people come in at that time of night and doing that to your family, I don’t know how I’d be if that was my family,” Trusler said.

The three people police arrested are being interviewed.

The other offenders remain on the run.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has CCTV/dashcam footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.