Thieves smashed their way into a pre-school in Ipswich stealing a safe, cash, a laptop and a video camera and leaving the building in ‘devastation’.

Ipswich Star: Happy Tots Pre-school manager Lisa Fulcher inspects the damage. Photo: ARCHANTHappy Tots Pre-school manager Lisa Fulcher inspects the damage. Photo: ARCHANT

Police were called to the Methodist Church in Landseer Road, where the Happy Tots Pre-school is based, at around 11am on Saturday after a member of staff discovered the break-in.

The school has been closed all week for the Easter holiday so it is believed the crime took place between 5pm on Friday March 31 and 11am on Saturday April 8.

Manager Lisa Fulcher said it was ‘horrible’ someone could steal money that is supposed to be spent on the children.

“It is so upsetting, it makes you really sad,” she said.

“It also makes you feel uneasy going there in the morning because anything could have happened.

“It’s more the damage they have done than what was taken.

“One of our staff had wanted to borrow our lawn mower on Saturday so went round to get it.

“They went in and noticed a glass panel had been knocked through.

“They opened it up and saw complete devastation in the office - they had ripped the doors off cupboards, off filing cabinets.

“Everything had been thrown everywhere.

“It’s horrible, they have just smashed their way in.

“We had a big sponsored sing, an Easter concert, recently and raised £600 to buy resources for the pre-school.

“Thank goodness I had already banked that money.

“We are a charity so it is just awful what has happened.

“It is just horrible that someone out there went and took money from the children.

“We don’t make a profit, we spend all the money we have on them.

Since discovering the burglary, Lisa and volunteers at the pre-school have been trying to clear up the mess left in the wake of the break-in.

“We would have been spending Thursday planning for next term but we’ve got to be here while the window is repaired and finish up cleaning.”

A fundraising page has been set up to help the pre-school with the repairs.

If you saw anything suspicious at the Methodist Church between the times stated or have any information that can help in the investigation, call Suffolk police on 101 quoting reference 27750/17.