A charity group that supports vulnerable people in the community has been targeted by burglars.

The culprit went to great efforts to climb over an eight foot wall at the Abbey Physic Garden to ram down the door of the log cabin and break into the filing cabinet… for just £17.

But the damage caused could cost the group nearly £1,000, a momentous amount for a charity run completely on generous donations.

Police are now investigating after deputy manager Richard Senior turned up to the walled gardens in Abbey Place to find the door to the cabin had been smashed in.

He said: “I turned up at my normal time in the morning and could see the cabin door was slightly ajar.

“I realised somebody must have broken it or someone had left it open over night but as I got nearer, I could see the door was busted.

“They must have climbed over the wall which is crazy as it is so high up – I definitely couldn’t climb over that wall.

“It was very upsetting at the time and it’s disheartening to know that somebody would target our group.”

The Abbey Physic Garden is a community garden which offers activities, lessons and social opportunities for people with mental health issues and physical disabilities as well as disadvantaged individuals.

The gardens are run by almost all volunteers and have been labelled a hidden gem in a tiny corner of Faversham.

Richard says the group has been targeted once before when a donation box was stolen but they never leave anything costly in the cabin.

They are now working with Amicus Horizon to have CCTV installed which Richard says “is upsetting that we even need to go to these extremes”.