The Antigua and Barbuda Girl Guides Association, which has been working with local children for over 90 years, suffered a major setback after thieves broke into and vandalized their St John’s headquarters over the weekend.

The break-in at the Deanery Lane premises was discovered on Saturday morning by Assistant Commissioner Sue Sharp when she arrived to open the Girl Guides shop.

She found an “unholy mess” with cupboards rifled through, items strewn about, and one of the back shutters pried off its hinges – the apparent point of entry for the burglars.

“It’s the scum of the earth, to be honest,” a frustrated Sharp stated, adding that the organisation has limited resources that are meant to benefit young people.

Among the stolen items were printed ranger shirts, badges, pins and cleaning supplies.

A camping tent and sashes were also found discarded in the grass behind the building.

While Sharp is working to inventory all missing merchandise, she says the real cost will be repairing the damage and improving security by installing burglar bars – expenses the non-profit can ill afford.

“It’s not so much what was stolen, it’s what it takes to make the building whole again,” she lamented.

This is the second time in recent years that the Girl Guides headquarters has been targeted by thieves.

The police are investigating the latest incident and are appealing to anyone with information to contact the Criminal Investigations Department at 462-3913 or the Crimestoppers hotline at 800-8477.