Burglars stole thousands of dollars of jewellery from a 60-year-old family store in an early morning raid in South Dunedin.
McAuliffe Jewellers in King Edward St was targeted by burglars early on Monday.
The offenders used a ladder to smash part of the wall of the building and smashed an inside cabinet before leaving with the goods via the ladder.
McAuliffe Jewellers owner Robert McAuliffe said he was "very annoyed" by the theft.
It was the first time in the business’ 60 years of operation it had been hit by such a raid.
When asked if he had a message for the thieves, Mr McAuliffe replied: "Not a printable one.
"I suspect, from the way it was carried out, it was professional.
"It wasn’t an opportunist-type job. There has obviously been a bit of planning going on. I would be very surprised if the items were still in the city.‘‘We have processes in place, monitored alarms ... [which were] activated, but they must have been in and out very quickly."
The amount of stock stolen had not been confirmed, but it would probably be in the thousands of dollars.
The store was fully insured, Mr McAuliffe said.
He understood there might be CCTV footage of the offenders.
"You can do all the preventions that are available to you to avoid these things, but at the end of the day if someone’s determined enough they are going to get in."
A police spokeswoman said the burglary appeared to have occurred before 5.30am.
"Police are still following lines of inquiry," she said.
It followed the theft of more than $10,000 from a safe in a supermarket in the same street.
Two other supermarkets — one in Mornington and one in Roslyn — were also targeted.
"There’s no apparent connection between it and the supermarket burglaries," the spokeswoman said.
Anyone who witnessed anything suspicious near McAuliffe Jewellers or in King Edward St early on Monday should contact police.
Dunedin police (03) 471-4800, Crimestoppers 0800 555-111.
