Callous thieves broke into a Wishaw nursery at the weekend and stole electronic tablets the children use for learning.
When devastated staff at Kiddieshack Nursery turned up for work on Monday morning they discovered the centre had been broken into and ransacked.
Tablets that the children use for arts and other activities had been nicked and their playrooms turned upside down.
Police confirmed the break-in and theft took place at some point over the weekend and have issued an appeal for witnesses.
Kiddieshack Nursery manager Lesley McBride said: “We’re absolutely devastated. The thing is, Wishaw is such a small close-knit community that whoever did this is probably affecting children of someone they know.
“We had purchased the tablets through the company for the children to use for their artwork and stuff.
“They cost hundreds and hundreds of pounds and we will need to think about fundraising to try and buy replacements.
“The police were out looking for finger and handprints so hopefully their investigation can get to the bottom of this and find out who it was.
“The children saw the police here this morning (Monday) and some of them were quite excited that they were here, but we’ve still to sit them down, talk to them and tell them someone’s been in and took their tablets.
“Hopefully they don’t have a bad reaction.”
The nursery will also have dip into its budget to fork out towards repairs for the damage caused by the thieves who attempted to force their way in at two different entry points.
Lesley added: “There is damage to two of the doors. They managed to force open a fire-exit door. We came in and noticed that one of the door handles was lying on the floor and then went into the office and it had been trashed.
“Whoever it was went through all the children’s cupboards and their stuff.
“They took the tablets, opened packages and made a mess of the office and the children’s playrooms.”
Anyone with information on the break-in can contact police on 101.
