HEARTLESS thieves broke in through the roof of a Canvey cafe to steal a Poppy Appeal collection tin.

The intruders raided the Bay Cafe, in Western Esplanade, while it was closed and stole the tin, which contained weeks’ worth of donations from generous customers.

The tin was later found on Canvey seafront, but all the money had been removed.

Cafe owner Heath Hillier, 48, said: “It is a disgusting thing to do.

“They broke in through the roof, ripped a panel off, smashed the ceiling and nicked the poppy collection box.

“There was a couple of weeks’ worth of money in there, but we don’t know exactly how much it was.”

Angie Wynn, Canvey branch secretary for the Royal British Legion, said thefts of collection tins on the island were fairly rare.

She added: “It really leaves a bad taste when something like this happens.

“The tins are sealed and we don’t count the donations until after Remembrance Day, so there is no way of knowing how much would have been there.

“We have got the tin back - it was found by the seafront - but all the money had been cleared out of it.

“In all the years we have been doing this, we have only ever had one other incident like this.

“A tin was stolen from the King Canute and they found the person responsible, but apart from that we don’t get any problems normally.

“It is very frustrating.”

An Essex Police spokesman confirmed the force were investigating the theft which took place overnight on Wednesday, October 28.

“Suspects unknown got onto the roof of the building, made a hole and climbed inside. A Poppy Appeal collection tin was stolen.”

Anyone with information about the break-in is asked to call Canvey police station on 101, Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org