Police are appealing for witnesses after a rock was hurled at two Mount Maunganui stores in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The rock now sits outside Palm Pop Up Boutique on Maunganui Rd with a note asking those walking by "does this rock belong to you?".
Store owner Julia Palm said
at 8am yesterday she received a phone call from a woman living above the store who noticed shattered glass on the footpath. Ms Palm found a large hole in the display window and the rock inside the store. The counter had also been shunted along several centimetres but nothing was taken.
"It must have been thrown pretty hard to do that. It's not a small rock," Ms Palm said.
It's believed the window was broken in the early hours of yesterday morning. A group of young people told Ms Palm they had gone past the store at midnight and not seen any damage.
"There has been nothing taken or damaged so we are pretty thankful for that," she said.
The "pop-up" store is temporary and expected to close at the end of the month.
Next door, Wear it Out costume hire was also targeted. It was the second time in as many months that the window was damaged by vandals.
Owner Melanie Schuster said it was incredibly annoying.
"It happened in November. They took the mannequins from the front and bits of them were found in the park over there," she said.
Tauranga police senior sergeant Glenn Saunders asked if anyone saw or heard any suspicious activity to contact Tauranga police on 5774300 or 0800 SPEAKUP.
