POLICE are appealing for witnesses after thieves exploited the festive period to target community buildings in and near the town.

Burglars hit schools, village halls, churches and the library, causing thousands of pounds of damage in the process.

The spate of break-ins followed an outbreak of burglaries before Christmas, which followed the now-familiar pattern of untidy searches with small amounts of money taken.

Among the buildings targeted was the Forest Community Centre, which saw two break-ins between Christmas and new year.

Manager Lindsay Kelly said that in the first burglary, on the morning of Monday, December 28, trespassers damaged three windows and a fire door. The alarm called her to the scene at 3am. Once inside, the burglars broke into the main office and her office and, while nothing was taken, caused what she estimated to be thousands of pounds of damage, breaking desks, filing cabinets and petty cash boxes.

Then, over the evening of December 30 and 31, the building was again targeted and the same windows, which had been screwed back into place, sustained greater damage. But this time the culprits did not get inside.

“This is a community centre so really it harms the community because it’s money we could better invest,” she said.

Also hit was Bordon Library, where a back window was broken to gain entry and a self-service machine forced open.

“A small cash amount was taken during a break-in at Bordon Library on New Year’s Eve,” a Hampshire County Council spokesman said. “As a result security and financial procedures at the library are being rev-iewed and will be amended accordingly.”

Headley Village Hall was also burgled prior to New Year’s Eve. Alan Hall, a Headley Parish Council employee said that a number of doors were broken open.

Mr Hall said that “perfectly good computers” were ignored, so suspected the culprits were just looking for money. They did, however, damage the CCTV system.

Both Weyford Infant and Junior schools were also hit over the Christmas holidays. Christine Leach, from Weyford Infant School, said there was damage to windows, but no entry. But at the adjacent junior school thieves got inside and, according to Neighbourhood Watch, took a “small amount” of money from a cash box.

Late on the evening of December 27, Whitehill Village Hall came into the burglars’ sights. Committee chairman Alan Waterhouse said one window and the glass half of the fire escape door were broken and, like other buildings, the cupboards were forced open. However, discovering nothing of value, the individuals left empty handed.

“It was very unsettling that the hall was broken into, but I was pleased nothing was stolen and the damaged was very minimal,” Mr Waterhouse added.

St Mark’s Church, in Pinehill Road, has also got a bill for repairs after it was broken into in the early morning of December 31.

David Scott-Bromley, the husband of vicar the Rev Deborah Scott-Bromley, said thieves smashed through the front door, broke into every cupboard and “just generally wreaked havoc”.

For all the destruction, which he estimated in the thousands to repair, he estimated they managed to steal about £20 in cash.

Between December 27 and 28, the Bordon Garrison Pre-school and Creche, in Kildare Road, saw damage but nothing was taken.

Also targeted was the Forest Cafe, broken into between December 27 and 28, with burglars damaging a security gate and back door before taking cash from the till.

Offenders forced entry to Headley Sports Pavilion, in Mill Lane, between December 29 and 31, by smashing a ground-floor window and door. Damage was caused but nothing stolen.

Perhaps connected to all this was the reported sighting, around 3.40am on January 1, of a suspicious male carrying a crowbar seen attempting to gain entry to Bordon Stores, in Chalet Hill, via a rear door. When security lighting activated, the male fled.

On December 23, the Army cadet’s building, in Farnham Road, suffered thousands of pounds of damage with equipment stolen.

“Every door in the building was smashed open,” Flt Lt Ian Johnson said. “They gained entry through a back window and broke every internal locked door. Several items of military-issue camouflage clothing were stolen along with our squadron banner (worth around £600), a small quantity of cash and they helped themselves to our cadets’ tuck shop.”

He estimated that the damage could cost as much as £5,000 to repair.

Prior to Christmas (over night of December 21 and 22) thieves broke into Deadwater Valley Trust-owned sheds at the Phoenix Theatre, Station Road, taking tools, including a large metal crowbar.

Bordon Fire Station was broken into overnight on December 28 and 29, with a sledge hammer, crowbar and battery-powered saw - tools ideal for breaking through doors and windows - stolen.

Damage to Mill Chase Leisure Centre was caused on December 22, with a rear fire-door window smashed, sounding an alarm.

Similar break-ins were also reported in December at buildings in Broxhead Farm Road, Lindford.

A Hampshire police spokesman said investigations were ongoing and no arrests had yet been made. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers, ano-nymously, on 0800 555 111.