RUSSELL Aldridge, Rima Maru, Jan Kearins and Carmen Te Whare in front of the latest broken window.
SOMEONE is making a habit of breaking into the Te Kūiti mailroom – and NZ Post staff and museum volunteers are over it.
There’s been three break-ins in the past month, plus a ram raid.
Repairing the damage and boosting security is costing the museum thousands of dollars, volunteer Jan Kearins said.
“It’s starting to cost us a lot of money,” she said.
The museum owns the building and leases the mail room to NZ Post, so the volunteers are responsible for the building security.
Preventing future ram raids cost $5000, Jan said.
“We’ve made provisions so they can’t ram raid us anymore, and now they are attacking us through all the windows.
“It is the community’s mail, all the parcels. They are stealing from their whānau in Te Kūiti.
“We have got people that we know are waiting for parcels, rugby boots for their children and presents – asking us about how we contact NZ Post.
“It’s just become too much. I don’t think they (the thieves) care anyway.”
Normally they broke into the mail room from the south side of the building, but on Tuesday night they broke a street-facing window.
Te Kūiti postie Rima Maru said the streetlights in Rora St were out Tuesday night. The alarm never went off.
The volunteers were rethinking their security
measures, Jan said.
