Police are hunting thieves who left a “trail of destruction” at a Perthshire beauty spot, before going on a spending spree with a stolen credit card.
Raiders smashed their way into parked cars at the remote Drimmie Woods, near Blairgowrie, while owners exercised nearby.
Kate Mason was walking her two terriers round the popular countryside spot, when her car was targeted on Tuesday lunchtime. Crooks lobbed a huge concrete block through a side window, and snatched a purse that was hidden away under a passenger seat.
And before fleeing the scene, they stole items of clothing from a second car.
Now police are hoping to trace the thieves using CCTV from two Blairgowrie stores where Ms Mason’s card was used to buy snacks.
“It’s so disappointing because this is such a beautiful spot and it just doesn’t appear very safe just now,” said Ms Mason. “It’s soul destroying when it’s these things you do to keep us sane.”
She said she arrived at the site just after 11am. “I’ve got two terriers and we got up there quite a lot,” she said. “This was the second time I had been at the woods this week.
“When I got back to my car, I could see they’d put a concrete block through the window. It looked like it had been put through with quite a bit of force, because it had torn through the seat lining.”
She said: “They must have opened the door to get inside, because my purse was tucked right underneath the passenger seat, completely out of view. They couldn’t have just reached through the window to get it.
“Further down the line, I could see a girl who had had clothing stolen from her car. In the trail of destruction that was left I could see they had dropped her bank card beside my car.”
There were several other cars at the entrance to the woods which did not appear to have been touched.
Ms Mason said the thieves had caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage. “It was a very windy drive home,” she said. “And unfortunately, because of restrictions, I won’t be able to get my car fixed for another 10 days.”
Investigators told Ms Mason her card had been used that afternoon in Blairgowrie, at the Jet filling station and the post office.
“They had only bought a small amount of items, the transactions were under £10,” she said. “It hardly seems worth it, does it?”
Another woman whose car was targeted at the same time posted on Facebook: “My car was smashed and broken into. I had all my belongings taken, including a black Karrimor fleece, a black leather jacket with fur collar and a tweed jacket.”
She urged anyone going to Drimmie Wood to be on their guard.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said officers were called to the woodland car park between 12.30pm and 1pm.
“Two cars were broken into and a number of items were stolen,” she said.
“Enquiries are ongoing with regards to both incidents.”
