POLICE are stunned at the boldness of thieves who could have escaped with more than $100,000 after an early morning burglary in the main street of Beaufort on Wednesday.
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Thieves broke into the Beaufort Community centre around 3am, and smashed their way into the back of a Bendigo Bank ATM, stealing the contents of the machine.
Worryingly, there was little sign of a break in at the centre, meaning those involved could have had prior knowledge of the complex.
Inspector Trevor Cornwill said investigations were viewing nearby CCTV footage and were searching for witnesses who may have been in the area at the time.
“We’ve had our crime scene investigators out there conducting fingerprinting and DNA examinations throughout the day,” he said. “You’d expect it to be more than one person given the complexity to break into the machine.
“The ATM is accessed by a lot of people in the community and there are lots that would have had access to the centre.”
Inspector Cornwill said the theft would have an enormous impact on the community. He said at this stage it appeared nothing else in the community centre had been touched.
“It’s a huge burden on a small town like Beaufort to have their community centre broken into in the first place,” he said. “But obviously the Bendigo Bank is a community bank and funds go back into the community, who knows how this might affect community organisations going forward.”
Information to Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.
