Bowling club burgled three times
Thousands of dollars worth of damage has been inflicted on a sports club with few funds to spare.
The Hokowhitu Bowling Club, on Albert St, Palmerston North, was broken into over the weekend and a ride-on lawn mower stolen. up.it was the third break-in at the club this year, the club’s ex-president Will Inman said, and the costs were mounting
In January, thieves took a laptop, computer and a television.
‘‘When they broke into the main building, the repairs to the main building
This is the third breakin at the club this year.
itself was $4000.’’
Then, about three months ago, the club was hit again, this time losing a push mower and a chainsaw.
‘‘We covered that ourselves because we have $1000 excess on the policy.’’
The mower taken on the weekend was worth about $5000, and had only recently been purchased.
‘‘It’s diabolical. We are not a big club by any means. We only have about threedozen active bowlers. It’s quite a social membership. We don’t get a lot of income from bowling.’’
While they had an old ride-on lawn mower they could use in the meantime, Inman said it was not very reliable.
They were hoping anyone with information, or who had recently bought a cheap, bright red, ride-on lawn mower, would come forward. ‘‘If someone calls, it just might help.’’
The burglaries were a real setback to a club that was already constantly raising money to stay open, Inman said.
The burglary has been reported to police.
Anyone with any information can contact police on 06 351 3600.