A HEARTLESS raid on a Scout venue has been described as a 'sucker punch' to future expansion plans.

Luke Trimby was horrified to find the venue on Kensington Road overturned after dozens of youths left a trail of destruction on Saturday, November 24.

As well as damaging several important items worth thousands of pounds, it is believed a medical equipment and a printer were stolen during the incident.

Mr Trimby hopes the public will be able to offer support to 103rd Oxford Road Scout Group in their time of need.

He said: "It is the first incident like this in the 10 years that I have been with the group.

"It is bad timing, as we are raising funds to have a new building done and we have got a planning application for that.

"We rent the property out in the evenings to help make some extra money.

"On that evening, it was rented out from 7-11pm and I arrived to lock up. There were around 30-40 youths there that should not have been.

"I tried to get them to leave, but it was at this time that I realised things were in the wrong place."

He quickly realised several items were either missing or destroyed and many will be expensive to replace.

The group has already had offers of support from parents and the public in response to this shocking incident.

Mr Trimby added: "The inflater for our bouncy castle was stolen, along with a number of First Aid kits.

"They had set off all of the fire extinguishers in the building. We also have a large mess tent that we use for outdoor events and that had been completely slashed with a knife from top to bottom.

"That cost us £2,000 to purchase originally and some of the projects the children had worked on had been ruined or vandalised.

"It does not look like there is any CCTV or proof of which people were involved, but there were dozens of youths in the hall causing damage.

"I called the police, but they said they would not be able to attend. They must have been busy in the town centre, but they have not attended the hall at all.

"We have some really good parents and posts are being shared around on social media to raise awareness."

Anyone with information is urged to call Thames Valley Police on 101.

Call the group on: 07928 518069 if you are able to help.