Thieves have been branded “deplorable” after they broke into a charity food bank in the Highlands.
Police have launched an investigation and appealed for information into the incident on Sunday or Monday at the food bank at Lower Dunbar Street in Wick.
The culprits caused damage to a door and window and made off with six bags of food earmarked for struggling families in Caithness.
Area Inspector Nick Clasper said the incident was believed to have happened between 4pm on Sunday and 12:15pm on Tuesday.
He added: “Theft of any kind is deplorable but this incident is particularly disappointing in that thieves have chosen to target a charity; run by selfless volunteers to provide support to those in need within our local community.”
The food bank is the second busiest in the Highlands, after Inverness, providing food parcels to 1,000 people a year.
Jane Coll, chairwoman of the management committee, said: “They broke a window and damaged a door, and took away six carrier bags worth of food.
“There are two theories. The first, that they were sufficiently desperate to do that, and that’s probably the line I would take.
“It’s a sad indictment of our society that people are desperate enough to steal from a food bank.
“The other line is that it’s a group of young people who will do anything for a dare. I’m not sure because of the risk of being caught by the police.
“The volunteers came in on Tuesday and found the mess and phoned the police immediately.
“It’s a worry because we’ve got hundreds of pounds of food sitting there. At the same time we don’t want to spend our cash on burglar alarms when it should be spent on food.
“Local people are just so generous at donating to us, and we just had a really good fundraising event recently.
“This year will be just as busy if not busier than last year.”
Connected to the Blythswood charity, the Wick food bank is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from midday to 2.30pm.
Insp Clasper said: “We would encourage anyone with information on this incident to report it either to Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111”
