Staff at Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Gosforth headquarters in the grounds of St Nicholas Hospital turned up for work after the weekend  to find their building had been broken into.

Unable to access the doors because of steel shutters, the thieves used an axe to break through an exterior wall to get into the building, before ransacking the inside and stealing valuable items of equipment.

The wildlife charity, which is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, manages over 60 nature reserves in Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside. Its small team of staff and army of volunteers work tirelessly to protect green spaces, which thousands of people visited last year during lockdown to keep their spirits up.

Speaking about the break in, Mike Pratt, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Chief Executive said: “This shocking act of wanton destruction and malicious burglary against our charity is a sad reflection on society that some people feel organisations like ourselves, who work very hard for people and wildlife on limited resources, are legitimate targets for opportunistic crime. The determination of the thieves who broke in speaks volumes about the degree of effort to carry out this crime.

“Whilst many youngsters across the world are doing their best this week to save the planet, what we have here is a group wielding an axe and causing damage. Our work place is in the local community so it is especially disappointing to find this happening locally.

“Several items were stolen, so, there is a financial loss to be added to the cost of the repair work which no charity can afford to shoulder - post covid when, many charities, ourselves included, cannot afford. The Police are involved of course and steps will be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“In the meantime, we will repair and make good the damage and get on with the important work of making our region a wilder and better place for nature and people.”

The wildlife charity is no stranger to destruction in its reserves. In June 2010, the visitor centre on its Hauxley reserve at Druridge Bay was destroyed in an arson attack and needed to be rebuilt. In March of this year, four of its wildlife-watching hides had windows broken and benches broken. The biggest hide, the Tern Hide, had its walls kicked in, benches ripped out and every window smashed. The repair bill ran into £1,000s.

Elsewhere over the years, vandals have targeted many of its reserves including those at Close House in the Tyne Valley, East Cramlington Pond, Holywell Pond, Big Waters and a break in at its Northumberlandia visitor centre.