Burglars wrote sarcastic reply to nursery children who left note asking them to stop stealing things

Fed up with yobs breaking into their school shed every weekend and damaging toys, youngsters at a nursery in Bolton, Greater Manchester, left a note pleading with them to stop. But rather than pricking the conscience of the vandals they instead scrawled a reply telling teachers not to lock the shed then they would not have to break in. The damage has so far cost the Alexandra Nursery School and Day Care Centre about £600. Headteacher Barbara Kenny said: "The staff put up a poster with the message 'please don't break our shed' and 'I cry when our toys are broken'. On Monday we have had a note chalked next to it saying 'keep it open then we won't break it'.

"It's really cheeky, but I suppose we have a dialogue with the thieves now." The children's full note read: "Please don't break our shed. I like nursery don't break it. You should take care of our things. I cry when our toys are broken. Play nice in our garden." The yobs replied: "Keep it open then we won't break it. Promise. P.S. Sorry." The Daubhill nursery's garden is hidden from view and the vandals sometimes take small chairs from the shed to sit on. When the weather was bad, they threw the contents of the shed outside, including children's toys, so they could shelter inside. Mrs Kenny said the school's garage door had also recently been damaged and branches ripped off a climbing tree.
She said scorch marks were also discovered on the wooden outdoor play equipment suggesting the vandals were trying to start a fire. She added: "We haven't found any alcohol bottles or needles but we think that's what they are doing. It's been going on for months. It eased off over the summer but we had builders in and all the scaffolding and fencing seemed to put the vandals off a bit. We must be going on for £500 or £600 worth of repairs and it's money out of our budget that should we should be spending on the children. I'm worried about the fact it is escalating and that they could set fire to the shed. It's just mindless damage and we're just getting fed up. We just want to highlight to the community that this happened and hopefully shame the vandals into stopping."

The nursery has no money to install CCTV cameras and police have told them they do not have the resources to patrol the area round the clock. The vandals are thought to be local teenagers. Inspector Dave Henthorne, of Bolton South and Central Integrated Neighboring Policing Team, said: "Those responsible need to examine their consciences and understand the impact it’s having on the children who attend the school. From a policing point of view, if we identify those responsible we will be arresting them on suspicion of criminal damage and it will seriously impact their own future. We have recorded two offenses of criminal damage and we have received 11 calls in total about anti-social behavior from local members of the public but because most of them report anonymously we can’t go and follow up the reports in the cold light of day."