Video footage has revealed the moment two women “brazenly” walked off with a charity tin from a Dundee butchers.
The pair entered MacDonald & Son on Lochee High Street at around 1.30pm on Tuesday.
One of them then lifted the Poppy Appeal tin and placed it in a carrier bag before quickly leaving the shop.
It happened while the counter was unmanned for a matter of seconds.
Owner Bobby Schofield is appealing for anyone who might recognise the pair to come forward.
The 42-year-old told The Courier his colleague noticed the theft taking place on security screens downstairs.
He said: “She saw somebody lifting up the charity box and she ran upstairs.
“But by the time she ran upstairs and out the front of the shop they were gone. It happened in 10 seconds.
“When she told me what happened, I looked back on the cameras and saw these two ladies.
“They walked past the shop, came back, went straight for the charity box, picked it up and walked out the door.
“We had a quick look around the streets but we they had left.”
‘It’s heartbreaking’
Bobby says the charity box had been collecting donations since November and was “almost full” – although he doesn’t know its exact value.
He added: “It’s heartbreaking. It’s not our money – it’s money that the community have donated to a charity, and that’s what makes it that much worse.
“Our customers just wanted to do a good thing, and then these ladies just brazenly walk in and lift it.”
A Facebook appeal by Bobby has already been shared more than 1,000 times.
He plans on making a donation to the Poppy Appeal on behalf of his business to “help make up for the loss”.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “On Tuesday evening police received a report of the theft of a charity box from a premises on High Street, Lochee, which is believed to have taken place earlier that day.
“Inquiries are at an early stage.”
