The theft of an entire exhaust system from a ute belonging to the Castlemaine Salvation Army has cost the local charity thousands of dollars and impacted on its ability to do its community work.
Thrift shop manager Peter Bottomley says the theft of the $4000 exhaust system happened overnight, Saturday July 16 when the Toyota Hilux utility was parked at the rear of the thrift shop premises on Castlemaine’s Forest Street.
“It was discovered when we turned on the ute the following Tuesday,” the unimpressed thrift shop manager says.
“There was a loud bang and the noise was unbelievable… like a Mack truck or a hole in the muffler.
“But we only found out the full extent of the damage after we took it to the garage and they rang to say the entire exhaust system was gone.”
A shortage of parts at the moment means the exhaust may now not be able to be replaced for some time, impacting on the ability of the local charity to carry out a wide range of charitable community work for which the ute was regularly used, including helping needy people shift into emergency accommodation.
“It’s now being assessed by an insurer to see if the loss can be carried by the insurance company but if it can’t then that’s $4000 we’re going to have to find that could otherwise be directed to our programs in the community,” Mr Bottomley says.
Fortunately CCTV footage was captured and Mr Bottomley says it shows the brazen theft taking place with what appears to be a male culprit detectable using tools to remove the exhaust, while another image shows him endeavouring to climb the fence around the rear yard where the ute was parked at the time.
“He was here for probably an hour and twenty minutes moving in and out from under the ute and getting various tools,” Mr Bottomley says.
“He came equipped. It was a well-planned operation.
“This is another knife in the wound for op shops,” the Salvos thrift shop manager said, naming a wide range of petty thieving with which the charity store regularly contends.
“It’s very frustrating because it’s a loss of income for programs that the Salvation Army runs to support our community.”
The actions in stealing from the charity also flew in the face of the many hours of work poured into the charity by local volunteers.
The incident has been reported to police and Castlemaine’s Leading Senior Constable Charlie Heatherly says theft from vehicles continues to be an ongoing issue.
“It’s a whole exhaust system that’s been taken from a Toyota HiLux ute which is something I haven’t seen before,” LSC Heatherly said.
“If somebody’s been offered a whole exhaust system recently, or has suddenly noticed someone with a new exhaust system that’s a bit suspicious contact Castlemaine Police or Crime Stoppers.
“We are looking through the CCTV footage and it’s an ongoing investigation.”