Thieves smashed through the roof of a charity shop in Wisbech and kicked down doors before stealing a Poppy Appeal box and the Salvation Army collection box.
Staff arrived on Monday morning to find rain-soaked stock where the culprits had left a gaping hole in the suspended ceiling.
Russell Day, territorial envoy of the town’s Salvation Army citadel, said: “I understand why people are in need but actually what they’ve done is a lot of damage to help their own needs but they have deprived a lot of other people in the process.
“To take a Poppy Appeal box and our collection, which helps local homeless and families in need in the town, is a sad and very selfish thing to do.”
The shop in Union Place was shut for the day while forensic officers from Cambridgeshire Police took shoe prints from the doors in a bid to track down the offenders.
The hole in the roof has been sealed over and made water tight and in the meantime quotes are being taken to fix the hole in the ceiling.
The shop is open again for business.
Most of the damage will be covered by insurance but the collection money and damaged stock will not be, said Mr Day.
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Police said the break-in happened some time over the weekend between 1.45pm on Saturday October 1 and 9am on Monday 3 although shop staff believe it happened some time over Sunday night.
The spokesman said: “We are appealing for witnesses and urge anybody with information to call 101.”
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