Police investigate as Santa grotto at Irish shopping centre 'ransacked' and presents ripped open

Castlecourt shopping centre in Belfast has hit out at those responsible for the damage of its Santa Grotto.

A spokesperson for the centre said that around 10pm on Friday evening, three people broke into the Christmas zone and ransacked the Santa Grotto. Presents destined for children were reportedly ripped open and fizzy liquid poured over Santa's seat, reports Belfast Live.

The PSNI said it is aware of the incident and in a statement, Castlecourt hailed the cleaning team who helped to restore the Grotto before the busiest Saturday of the year.

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A Castlecourt statement issued on Saturday read: "Last night, at 10pm, three teenagers broke into our Santa's Grotto to attempt to steal money from the tills. Once they realised the tills were empty (as they are every night) they ransacked the grotto, pouring Coke all over Santa's chair, tearing open all the presents and toys, trashing the interior.

"Thank you to our amazing cleaning team who have worked tirelessly to restore the grotto before one of our busiest Saturdays of the year. Two things to note. We have full CCTV coverage of the three people who sadly are too young for us to post. The teenagers ran off when rumbled by our security team onsite. The police have reviewed this footage and taken a report.

"Castlecourt puts huge effort into running our grotto every year, complete with charitable donations from the grotto that we normally don't mention. If we spot the culprits in the centre we will be calling the police. This behaviour is disgraceful and will not be tolerated."

A PSNI spokesperson told Belfast Live that they received a report of criminal damage and that enquiries are ongoing.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 317 21/12/24. A report can be made using the online reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport.

Information can also be provided to Crimestoppers anonymously online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

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