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A local charity in Christchurch is desperate to recover Lego products worth about $15,000, stolen from one of its parked vans.
Imagination Station announced on its social media page around lunchtime on Tuesday after discovering its van had been broken into over the weekend.
The van had been parked at a Wilsons car park on Gloucester St overnight, near Tūranga Library, where the charity operates.
Charity director Rachel Westaway told the Herald it was clear the burglary was premeditated, as the front lock had been broken, the thieves then smashing the back window and taking several Lego kits.
The kits varied in value. Westaway said the amount taken would fill seven six-litre containers and some of the stolen products were no longer available on the market.
The van had been parked at a Wilsons car park on Gloucester St overnight. Photo / Supplied
Lego Technic, EV3 and Spike Prime were among the stolen kits.
“There were specialised kits which cost around $250 each and some equipment isn’t made by Lego any more, like the WeDo kits, so we can’t replace them like for like,” Westaway said.
“We’re putting an asset list together of what was taken.”
Imagination Station has been operating out of Tūranga for the past three years. It was given the Wilsons parking spot by the car park company as the charity was having difficulty getting a park near the building.
The charity works with children to provide education and resources using Lego technology through its play area, or through after-school and holiday classes.
One of Imagination Station’s key values is accessibility, which is why it bought a charity van that could bring the Lego products to different locations across the city.
“[It’s] for schools and places where potentially some students can’t afford to make it to the library, or where parking is an issue,” said Westaway.
Imagination Station has been operating out of Tūranga for the last three years. Photo / Supplied
“So coming to them makes it easier for them to use our equipment.”
Police have been notified of the theft. Westaway said it was unfortunate to learn that CCTV cameras were not operating in the car park at the time.
“From our perspective, we had great support from Wilson and felt really safe there for the last three years.
“So it’s unfortunate somebody took it upon themselves to steal from a charity.”
With little other option than to address the public directly, Westaway hopes somebody will notice the Lego products up for sale online somewhere.
It’s expected the rarity of certain products will make it easy to identify the stolen Lego if it goes go up for sale.
“The suspicion is that they were stolen for resale,” said Westaway.
“There is the potential they’ll try to sell in bulk either through Lego or other channels online, so we want people to keep an eye out and let us know if they see anything suspicious - particularly in terms of volume.
“We just want to return it to the community, no questions asked.”
