Sentimental pet ashes, medical equipment and iPads have been stolen from a cat charity's lock-up.

Wisteria Cat Rescue, based in Rochester, had its private storage unit in Walderslade targeted by thieves for a second time in the last 12 months in the early hours of this morning.

Charity organiser, Billy Devitt, said the latest incident was "soul destroying" after a similar one happened last January with valuable equipment taken along with the remains of beloved animals.

Billy said: "Because of this we had a lot of our items locked up in units for the move.

"It wasn't only things like cleaning stuff they stole but also personal items, the charity iPads and music home pods.

"They even nicked the memorial ornaments we had for our cremated cats as they look like resin ornaments.

"They've ransacked the place, even after we got all new padlocks and security measures sorted after the last incident."

On January 23 last year more than £2,000 of supplies were also stolen from Billy's storage unit.

During that incident the thieves took cat baskets, equipment, cleaning materials and donated items.

Speaking of the latest break-in, Billy said: "It is soul destroying.

"This happened in the same place as last time, I never thought it would happen again, especially with the new locks we installed."

Billy believes the incident happened at about 1am as a nearby neighbour woke up to hear crashing.

He said: "The charity will be moving away from that facility now.

"I don't know if we are being targeted but it does seem like we are being watched.

"They've also taken some of our life saving equipment and some of the incubators we use to transport kittens.

"It is like they knew that equipment was in there."

It is believed several other neighbouring units were also targeted and Billy fears the location would be hit again.

He added: "After an incident like this donations are always helpful.

"But right now we're limited for space hence why we needed the storage in the first place.

"I want to thank everyone for all their messages, I’ve yet to answer many as I'm trying to sort everything this end. The words gutted and fuming don't even come close."

If you would like to make a donation click here.

A police spokesman said: "There was an alleged break-in of garages in Cooper Road, Chatham, reported to police at 1.20am on Wednesday, January 4."

The spokesman said: "Officers attended the scene but there was no trace of any suspects.

"The owner then contacted police at around 3.20pm later the same day, reporting a number of items stolen, including a computer tablet and animal ashes."