ROBIN'S Nest manager Sally Hopkins knew something was very wrong when she arrived at work yesterday morning to find a broken security screen, a smashed window and the shop's cash register on its side on the front verandah.
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Sometime after she had left the previous afternoon, a thief or thieves targeted the Fitzroy Street gift store and cafe in what Ms Hopkins described as a "very professional job".
A security screen had been peeled back and a corner smashed out of the window behind it, Ms Hopkins said. It had given whoever did that enough room to put his or her arm through to grab the cash register and three charity collection boxes from the front counter.
"They appear to have had a cordless drill with them to get the screws out of the security screen," Ms Hopkins said.
"It's a special screw on security screens that you'd need a particular drill bit for."
The thief or thieves had neatly piled glass smashed out of the window onto a table on the front verandah.
To add insult to injury, Ms Hopkins said, the intruder or intruders flicked power switches on the outside of the building that cut electricity to the cafe's refrigeration units.
"A lot of stuff defrosted and you can't take chances, we've lost hundreds of dollars worth of food. I would just ask 'why?' They'd already broken a window and stolen the till and the charity boxes, so why turn the freezers off?
"It was so senseless."
When the Daily Liberal spoke to Ms Hopkins on Friday police had been to take a report and she was awaiting the arrival of forensic officers. Signs at the front of the store informed customers of the previous night's break-in and warned people not to touch anything before evidence had been collected.
Ms Hopkins said it was a blow for the small business.
"Most of our business comes in the morning when people come to get their coffees and we had to shut down while the police were here, we couldn't trade this morning," she said.
Even more unsettling was the possibility the intruder or intruders may have been familiar with the cafe, or at least visited before, Ms Hopkins said.
"When the blinds are drawn you wouldn't know a till was even here," she said, pointing to where the cash register had sat behind the window before it was grabbed and tossed onto the verandah.
"We took the money out for the day so thankfully they didn't get the cash, but the till will have to be replaced, its insides are coming out."
Ms Hopkins could not recall anything like it happening in the time she had been there.
"It's really, really scary, because we've had a real sense of peace here, beautiful regular customers that we see every day, it's just been a great place to be," she said.
"You read about crime in Dubbo but something like this makes it hit home."