Byrne Surfboards in Thirroul was broken into at the weekend, with the brazen thieves making off with dozens of surf products worth an estimated $15,000.
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When Taylor Byrne arrived to open the store at 7am on Saturday, he found a window lock on the ground and the floor depleted of stock.
A stocktake revealed around four surfboards, 30 fins, 30 leg ropes, 15 wetsuits, two backpacks and clothing had been stolen.
Mr Byrne believes the break-in took place sometime between 10.15pm Friday, when he left for the night, and 7am Saturday when the shop reopened.
He had been working back late hanging out merchandise ahead of the weekend and believes the thieves may have seen him lock up and leave, before forcing open a window and raiding the shop of thousands of dollars worth of goods.
Mr Byrne appealed to residents in the area to check any CCTV cameras for footage of people walking around the suburb holding surfboards or acting suspiciously between those hours.
"Can you please pass on the footage," he posted on a Thirroul community forum on Saturday afternoon. "Reward if you can help us out."
Taylor's brother, Parrish Byrne, said they suspected at least two people were behind the robbery, which couldn't have come at a worse time.
"We think there must have been two people who broke in because there were two backpacks stolen," he said.
"It is a bit of a nightmare for us coming just before Christmas. To lose $15,000 worth of stock this close to Christmas is pretty annoying.
"Especially at this time with COVID-19 when it is so hard to get stock from our suppliers.
"Everyone has minimal stock so it is really going to have an impact on us trying to replace what was stolen.
"We have been out here six years now and this is the first time we have ever had anything like this happen."
Parrish Byrne said locals were just as upset about the robbery as they were.
"We live locally and we are a very community-oriented family," he said.
"We do a lot of stuff for the surf club and football clubs in the area so a lot of the town is pretty annoyed about this. The whole town is kind of hurting. They feel violated like we do."
Police attended the store and commenced an investigation.
The surf store on Railway Parade was able to reopen at 11am for normal trade.
More to come
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
