Volunteers at a community orchard in Wisbech are outraged after thieves broke into a local store and stole thousands of pounds worth of gardening equipment, including donations meant for the charity project.
The store, located just inside Norfolk, was targeted on Saturday, with thieves making off with between 20 and 30 pieces of equipment. Among the stolen items were a donated ride-on mower, two lawn mowers, a heavy-duty strimmer, a scythe, and various power tools including a Dewalt strimmer, radio, drill with batteries, and even a trailer.
Community development worker Andrew Callaghan expressed the anger of those involved with the project. “A lot of people are very angry,” said Mr. Callaghan, 59. “This obviously took a lot of time and effort, and they’ve stolen from what is a charity project set up for the benefit of the public.”
Mr. Callaghan, who personally owned the stolen scythe, explained that it had been used in a scything workshop held two years ago. “We had a scything workshop about two years ago – I used it then,” he added.
The orchard, which was launched in August 2021 with the planting of its first tree in October of the same year, aims to create a community orchard using heritage rootstock. The theft has left volunteers devastated, as much of the equipment vital to the project’s success has been taken.
A spokeswoman for the project confirmed the theft, adding that the stolen items were critical to the operation and continued development of the orchard, which has become an important community resource.
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