Exmouth RNLI and police are appealing for information after thieves attempted to break into Exmouth RNLI lifeboat station overnight on Tuesday (16 September).
Nothing was taken in the attempted raid but the station suffered damage when a glass window was smashed.
The station is urging anybody with information on the crime to contact the police.
Kevin Riley, Exmouth RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, says:
'One of the crew's wives was out walking on Wednesday morning at about 7am when she noticed the damage and reported it to police. We're not sure exactly when it happened, but the station was secure on Tuesday night and we discovered this damage the following morning, so it must have been at some point over the course of the night. It appears the thieves broke the glass and were trying to get a collection box out, but fortunately they didn't manage to.
'It's extremely disappointing to think that somebody would want to cause damage to our lifeboat station building and attempt to steal money that has been donated by members of the public. The crew and local community are very upset about what's happened as it's not something we'd ever expect. The broken glass has been temporarily repaired and a new panel of glass is on its way, but this obviously costs and spending money on repairs is an added financial burden to the charity when we'd rather it was spent saving lives at sea. If anybody knows who may have committed this incident I'd urge you to contact the police.'
Any information should be reported to the police, quoting police crime reference number CR/107249/14.
