Police are hunting a burglar who broke into Leicester's oldest Sikh temple and left a trail of destruction in his wake.
The lone intruder broke into the Guru Nanak gurdwara, in Holy Bones, off Vaughan Way, Leicester city centre in the early hours of today.
Today, members of the congregation were assessing the scale of the losses and the extent of the damage the thief caused during his one and three-quarter hour search of the building.
The list of items stolen ranged from musical instruments to CCTV cameras and their monitors.
A large sum of money which members of the congregation had collected for charity was also taken.
Ajaib Singh, a member of the temple's management committee, said assessing the scale of the damage was a big job.
As the intruder moved from room to room he kicked open locked doors and smashed windows.
He left in a vehicle which is owned by the temple, ramming a wrought iron gate at least three times to force it open.
Mr Singh said: "It has been a very distressing day for the community.
"People have been hearing about what has happened to their place of worship and coming in to find out what is going on.
"This is the oldest Sikh temple in the city and is very important to people.
"It was only one man. We can see him on the CCTV walking around very leisurely. He was in here between 2am and 3.45am.
"It was all very well planned and professionally executed.
"We have had a lot of messages of support throughout the day, including calls from the Sikh community but also the other faiths."
Gurdwara president Ajmer Singh Basra, with Balbir Singh Sandhu, Gurdip Singh Pabla and Sital Singh Gill
Scenes of crime officers were at the scene yesterday looking for clues which will help detectives trace the intruder.
CCTV footage from the few cameras which were not stolen has been passed to Leicestershire Police.
A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said the break-in was under investigation and that officers were speaking to members of the congregation
