Richmond Primary School ransacked by youths during burglary

Principal Shane Foster said several youths broke into the school, causing damage to his office. Photo / Supplied

A Napier principal's office was ransacked during a burglary at a Maraenui school on Monday night.

Richmond Primary School Principal Shane Foster said several youths broke into the school, causing damage to his office.

"One of them came in through my office window, which was smashed, and opened the front door, where two of his mates came inside the office area," he said.

"They tipped up my office, pulled out all the drawers and emptied them. They can be seen leaving with things in their hands – but you can't actually quite pick up what it was."

Foster added: "You think everyone is in isolation like they should be, but some people see that as an opportunity to take advantage like this."

Police said they received a report of a burglary at the property on Barnard Avenue, in the Napier suburb of Maraenui, at about 8.46pm on Monday.

Richmond Primary School on Barnard Avenue. Photo / Supplied

A police spokeswoman said they were working to determine if anything had been taken.

Foster said the school has received tip-offs about the culprits' identities after sharing security camera footage on social media.

"We put them on the school Facebook page last night and from there it has gone viral, with a lot of support from the community, giving names and so on," he said.

The decile-one school has 140 students.

Foster said this was not the school's first such incident, but hoped new security measures would bring a turnaround.

"We've upgraded our security cameras, which has been fantastic for us. It's timely, knowing that schools are going into isolation, but we know our school will be looked after with a 24-hour monitoring system.

"The police have now names and photos, and took fingerprints, so hopefully they can retrieve the items in the next day or two.

"It'll be one of those ones where I won't know what [has gone] until it's something I want to use or want to have. I won't know until I have a good look."

A police spokeswoman said inquiries were ongoing.