A man has been arrested after a charity shop which helps homeless people was broken into and smashed up.

Emmaus in Rochester High Street sells furniture and household items, and employs homeless people to get them back on their feet.

Sometime between 4.30pm on Wednesday October 14 and 8.30am Thursday October 15 someone smashed a window at the back of the building and broke in. Some electrical equipment was stolen.

A 27-year-old man from Chatham has now been arrested on suspicion of burglary and released on bail pending further inquiries until November 30, 2015.

A few months ago a similar thing happened and £4,000 was stolen. Since then staff bought new safes, changed how they store money and installed extra CCTV.

Last month, the perpetrator did a lot of damage.

Director Martin Sissons said at the time: “In a way I can almost understand burglary – desperate people want something, they take it – but this doesn’t seem to have been about stealing.

“Whoever did this vandalised the place, they smashed glass pieces of furniture, tore CCTV cameras off the wall and ransacked the offices.

“It’s just sad. It makes you think, was this a personal attack?”

The future of the shop has also been called into question.

“While we don’t plan on closing the service for people who need it, I am considering trying to move elsewhere. We’re in an old Victorian building with single glazing and, despite extra efforts, it’s easy to smash a window and we can’t seem to make it completely safe.

“We can’t have this happening two or three times every year.”

The shop is insured, but the break-in meant it was closed after the break-in, losing a day’s takings, plus much of the saleable goods have been written off.

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 101 quoting reference XY/36057/15.