Heartless thieves who targeted a family run gift card shop during an early morning raid have left thousands of pounds worth of damage.
The three masked thugs used a crowbar to force entry at the Hallmark shop on Newark Road South in Glenrothes at around 3.55am on Monday.
The gang, who wore gloves and balaclavas, then kicked open the kitchen door where the till drawer was kept before pocketing the £100 cash float.
They also made off with a haul of goods including Yankee Candles, soft toys and balloon inflating equipment before fleeing the scene following the six minute raid.
Debbie Devine, who runs the store with her parents, was heartbroken to discover the break in and is now counting the costs of the lost stock and repair work.
The 42-year-old said: “It’s devastating when you work hard to bring a shop to the community and this happens.
“The main thing that they’ve taken is the Yankee candles and they’ve obviously lifted to order but they have done some personal shopping as well.
“They’ve broken two doors. The main door has £1500 worth of damage but they’ve also kicked in our kitchen door where our till drawer is kept.
“Luckily they only managed to get the £100 float and not any other money. But it’s the damage that they’ve done getting to it.
“They’ve caused a couple of thousands of pounds worth of damage in just six minutes.”
Debbie has issued a heartfelt appeal for anyone with information about the robbery to get in touch and has released CCTV of the raid.
She said: “We’re just appealing to anybody that could give us any information or if they saw anything happening to get in touch.
“Maybe someone will even recognise how they’re dressed.
“The police have said that they recognise the car that they have and said it was of interest to them.
“So I think the police are probably on to whoever is responsible for this.
“They’ve also managed to get footprints but they were wearing gloves and balaclavas.”
She added: “We were actually targeted at our Dunfermline shop quite a few years ago and they stole all the Yankee Candles there too.
“So this is the second time this has happened to us as a family. That’s what makes it even harder to swallow.
“It’s product that we now can’t sell and there’s no way we can replace it before Christmas.
“They never think of the consequences of their actions, they only think of themselves and lining their own pockets.
“We’re not a big multinational company, these costs you just can’t cover especially when it’s a new business.
“We hope that we can make everything they took too hot to handle.”
Police Scotland are appealing for witnesses to the break in and a spokeswoman added: “Inquiries are ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 0666 of 11 December or Crimestoppers 0800 555 111”.
