THIEVES broke into a hospice charity shop to steal money.

Crooks forced open the back door to the Havens Hospice charity shop, in West Street, Rochford, to steal £30 from a safe, a collection tin and £20 from a till.

The thieves even trashed a sign put up in the shop aimed at deterring anyone from stealing from “adults and children who are seriously ill”.

Staff at the shop are disgusted by the “senseless theft” which happened between the evening of August 27 and the morning of August, 28.

Vanessa Seymour, assistant shop manager, said: “To cause all this damage for little over £50 is just senseless.

It’s upsetting to think the thieves saw our sign and completely disregarded it.”

The sign reads: “If you are reading this and have broken in to the shop, you are stealing from adults and children who are seriously ill.

“Every penny you take will be less that goes towards caring for these people and their families. Please think again about your actions. Thank you”.

It was put up following previous break-ins at other shops.

Mrs Seymour said the break-in had upset a number of staff.

She said: “Our volunteers are shaken too.

They give their time for free and it’s unsettling for them to think there are people out there who could do this to a hospice charity, with no regard to who we’re actually here to help.

“Havens Hospices needs donations so our care teams can continue caring for the hundreds of local seriously ill children and adults, plus their families. We need to raise the money because our care is free of charge. Incidents like this make us more determined, because we know the support of our local community will get us through it.”