Thieves torpedo club's hard work

Just days after these volunteers had worked on joining the large aluminum wall panels together, thieves struck and every last piece was gone. Photo / Supplied

Several thousand dollars worth of building materials, much of it donated, has been stolen from a building site near the Awatoto Field aerodrome, leaving Model Flying Hawke's Bay Club members stunned and disappointed.

"All the planning and the funding that we've done, and someone out there has decided that they needed this more than we did," club president Stuart Sturge said.

"It is so disappointing and it's put us back months - we will have to start all over again."

The club had been in the process of building a new storage shed as an extension to its existing tractor shed at the site, which is adjacent to Ravensdown.

They had poured the concrete base and worked over recent weekends constructing the aluminium framework, trusses and roofing, which was stored on-site.

All the material had been safe and sound last Sunday evening but on Monday morning a club member who was visiting the airfield noticed it had all gone.

"Every past piece of it - the lot," Mr Sturge said.

"The members are absolutely gutted because they have lost all the work they've put into the assembly and all the material cost, which is unrecoverable."

He said it appeared the theft had been well-planned and carried out, because the 6m x 3.5m framework would not have got through the only accessible driveway to the site had it been lying flat.

"They would have had to have them on a tilt, so would have had to have some sort of tilt base on their truck - it appears well co-ordinated."

He said it it would have taken at least three or even four people to lift and remove them.

"These were specially designed and built as the extension to our present building so they are unlikely to fit anything else," Mr Sturge said.

"So I hope it doesn't work out for them - I hope it's a disaster."

He said the club had been operating its model aircraft at the Awatoto Field for more than 15 years and experienced little in the way of vandalism - just occasional surface damage from unwanted guests riding off-road motorcycles.

But last weekend the club was hit twice. The day before the building material disappeared, someone tore several sheets of iron off the toilet-block building.

"So two strikes in two days - so disappointing," Mr Sturge said.

The theft had been reported to the police and anyone who may have seen a large vehicle carrying distinctive framing on Sunday night or early Monday should pass that information to police.

As well, if anyone had seen the panels stored somewhere, they should let police know.

- Calls can be made to the police on 831 0700 or to the confidential Crimestoppers line, 0800 555 111.