A BURGLAR hid in a Tavistock church before stealing Christmas charity cash and causing hundreds of pounds? worth of damage. The money was stolen from the Cards for Good Causes donation box, the Guides? Christmas delivery donation box as well as cash from a safety deposit box and till at the United Reformed Church in Russell Street on Saturday night. PC Gary Kellock said the burglar used a screwdriver to wreck the till and boxes and damaged several lockers and cupboards in the search. He made off with more than £200 of charity money and caused several hundred pounds? worth of damage. ?We cannot say for sure what happened but it looks as if the culprit or culprits went in the church during the day when it was open and hid out in there until the doors were locked at 4.30pm. ?They then had a free for all before finding an escape route out of the building.? PC Kellock said the burglars may have had knowledge of the building ? they went through four fire exits, used a ladder that was in the cellar basement to get up to street level and climbed over the railings. ?The layout of the church is such that whoever did this could have sneaked in upstairs to the gallery and hid out there,? he said. ?This is not the work of a master criminal but it is one level up from an opportunist theft. It is unusual in Tavistock to get a crime like this. Thefts from charities are especially sad particularly right before Christmas.? The police officer said forensic evidence had been taken away for examination. Church minister the Reverend Roger Cornish said it was ?sickening? but all the church could do was mend what was broken and carry on. ?It is disheartening that these thieves would pick an organisation which is there to help the community,? he said. ?Churches are broken into from time to time, but in the search for money so much damage is caused. This is particularly distressing to the congregation when we have spent £100,000 over the past three years renovating the building to make it useful to the community.? Mr Cornish said they tried not to leave any cash in the building when the church was locked up for the night. David Stapleton, who runs the Cards for Good Causes shop in the church, said the till had been broken into and damaged beyond repair but he had emptied it of the day?s takings before he left. ?The float of £30 was stolen and our donation box which has been there since we opened the shop in October was taken ? it must have had at least £100 in it,? he said. Mr Stapleton said more than £25,000 had been raised in the shop in eight weeks with 35 charities being helped this year. ?We close the shop on Saturday but we have been told we are the most successful shop in Devon and that is because we have such wonderful volunteers ? 180 in all,? he said. ?When you think of all the effort that has been put in by everybody and someone goes and commits a crime like this it puts a sour note on everything ? it may only be a small amount of money but that is not the point. ?You would think a church would be safe from criminals but it seems nothing is sacrosanct. It is very sad.? If anyone has information or saw someone acting suspiciously in the church on Saturday could they contact PC Kellock at Tavistock Police Station on 08452 777444.