OVER £600 was stolen during a break-in at a community farm last night.

Money was taken from a cash register and a donation pot at Fancy’s Farm in Portland.

Farm owner Su Illsley said a brand new till was also taken.

She said: “They have stolen from the community. They have stolen from everybody that uses the farm.”

The incident took place between 9pm last night and 8am this morning.

The exterior fence was cut open and used as an entrance. An office window was smashed to retrieve the money.

Mrs Illsley said: “They have taken the bars off the window. They have done a proper job.”

The field that the thieves broke into is usually occupied by the farm’s miniature horse, Dinky Devil.

He was in his stables at the time. None of the farm’s animals were hurt or injured during the break-in.

Mrs Illsley said: “If anybody had hurt or have touched the animals, I would have hunted them down.”

She added: “All the money they have stolen from is to feed the animals and our bills are running at £1,500 to £2,000 for animal feed. So that’s a big dent in that.”

The break-in comes less than a day after the farm received a £200 cheque from the ASDA Foundation, winning the customer green token vote at its Weymouth store.

Mrs Illsley confirmed the cheque had been taken by thieves, torn up and found with the remains of the till in the farm’s ghost tunnels. The cheque has now been cancelled.

She said: “They will get caught. Somebody will slip up at some point because the farm is used by the whole community, not just Portland.”

Councillor Sandy West, who represents the Underhill ward for Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said she was saddened by the news.

She said: “I’m really upset for them because they do such a fantastic job up there.

“They do such great work for the community. It is a real asset on Portland and I feel so sad. It is just heartbreaking.”

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: “We did have a report of a break-in at that location.

“It looks like it was a break-in to an office area during the night.”

One of the farm's supporters has put up a £250 reward for anyone who is able to provide information leading to the arrest and conviction of the offender(s).

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police on 101, quoting incident number 29:99.