THE VICAR of Petersfield has spoken of his “great sadness” after his church was burgled in the run up to one of its biggest events of the year.

Just under £200 was stolen when the parish office at St Peter’s Church was burgled some time overnight last Tuesday.

The culprit smashed a window to get into the office some time after 12.30pm before forcing open a locked drawer containing the float for last weekend’s fete.

The Rev Will Hughes suspects the church was deliberately targeted as the burglary took place four days before the event, which was a massive success.

“There’s always a huge sadness when people do this and it’s a shame,’ said the Vicar, adding the burglary was the second to take place at the church in a year.

“It didn’t make the fete difficult to run other than the stallholders had to ask for exact change, but it’s disappointing nonetheless.”

The burglary was reported at 9.30am last Thursday while forensic officers examined the office for fingerprints.

Witnesses or anyone who saw anything suspicious have been urged to call 101 quoting 44180335578.

“A town like Petersfield doesn’t stay nice by itself and it takes effort,” said Mr Hughes, reflecting on the events of the last week.

“On a few occasions we’ve found drugs around the churchyard and Dragon Street is a very different place after midnight.

“But at the same time you see some wonderful things like fetes. It’s generally a great place and it’s great because of the time and effort that people put in.”