WHEN volunteers from the Eglinton Eels leagues club turned up for a working bee, they were hoping to get everything in the club in order for the Christmas break.
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Instead, when they arrived they found their rest rooms and canteen had been broken into, with the roof in the canteen kicked in by the culprits.
After gaining entry through the roof, the culprits stole a couple of chocolates and a T-shirt before taking off.
Club president Marc Holman said the break in was discovered by volunteers who turned up to help out on Sunday.
“When they got there there was a big hole in the roof,” he said.
Upon further investigation, it appeared the thieves had entered through the toilets climbing up into the roof before kicking in the mesh and plaster board in the canteen to gain access.
“They haven’t actually taken a lot, just a couple of chocolates and a T-shirt, which suggests it was probably kids, it’s just the damage they’ve caused,” he said.
Mr Holman said it was also frustrating for the club, and the volunteers who willingly give up their time to try and make the club the best it can be for the kids who play.
“It’s the volunteers who suffer, they are the ones who come and do all the work,” he said.
Mr Holman said they almost have to make the building which houses the change rooms and canteen a fortress to stop people getting in.
“It’s already got double locks on all the doors,” he said.
He said police attended and have taken finger prints and foot prints from the scene, and council are now in the process of repairing the building.
“It’s just a shame,” he said.
“All the volunteers came on Sunday and committed their time to helping out the working bee, but in the end we couldn’t do anything, the cleanup had to be put on hold while we waited for the police [to examine the crime scene],” he said.
“We were hoping to get everything cleaned up and organised before Christmas so everything would be ready to go for the kids next year when the season began.”