Vandals repeatedly attack SPCA's charity shop storage in Whangārei

Volunteers from the Kamo SPCA Op Shop are "heartbroken" after repeated attacks of vandalism which has cost the charity several hundred dollars.

The locked shed where the Op Shop keeps the goods donated to the SPCA has been broken into and vandalised at least four times in the past year.

Although things have been stolen, Renee Montgomery, the co-ordinator of the shop, thinks people mainly "do it for fun, it's vandalism over theft".

She now dreaded coming in after a weekend.

"It is not a nice thing to walk into on a Monday morning. It is a trashed mess, doors and locks get broken off, there's broken glass and clothes strewn everywhere."

Donations in the shed mainly consist of towels, clothes, dog bedding, Christmas decorations and empty boxes.

"People just come in and mess it up, it's a pain in the butt."

They also break the hinge of the large rubbish bin to break into the bin, which only contains trash.

''It mind-boggles me that you would want to get into a bin."

When the hinges get taken off Wastecare has to come and fix it, which is an extra cost.

Every time the shed doors get broken the lock has to be replaced, which costs around $40.

Kamo SPCA op shop co-ordinator Renee Montgomery at the charity's lock-up which has been continually targeted by vandals. Photo / John Stone

Over the past year the total cost of the vandalism would have added up to several hundred dollars, said Montgomery.

The SPCA has to absorb the cost which is "supposed to go in another direction".

The charity is mainly run with the help of volunteers who have to spend several hours cleaning up the mess. Montgomery said it is "heartbreaking for volunteers".

"It gets really frustrating, because we are already really busy."

The goods inside the shed have very little monetary value, because the clothing is mainly sold for $1 a piece. However, they hold a lot of value for the SPCA which relies on these donations to run the charity.