Southland A&P Society executive officer Georgie Day said the extremely successful weekend ended with a stomach-dropping discovery at the site office for organisers on Sunday morning.
‘‘It was all completely tipped upside down — just an absolute mess.
‘‘We’ve cleaned it up now, but it was a horrible thing to walk into after such a great weekend.’’
The small hut, which serves as a permanent site office, had its door handle broken off but it was quickly repaired by her father, who came to the rescue.
‘‘He’s great — I’ll always need him,’’ she said.
Society president Paula Bell said the break-in came hard on the heels of a hugely successful show, but she refused to let it rob credit from the small committee, which had worked extremely hard to organise the event.
‘‘Southland’s better than this ... it’s a shame because my people had put in so much work to the show.’’
Fortunately, there was minimal cash in the office because of the usual organised security cash pick-up.
‘‘The most disappointing thing was the mess that was made ... it took over two hours to clean up the mess.’’
The successful event drew strong crowds and upbeat feedback from the public, following a vibrant two-day programme of entertainment, competitions and displays.
As reported in the Otago Daily Times yesterday, committee members said the atmosphere was among the best in recent years.
Final attendance figures were still being tallied, but organisers believed numbers might be close to record levels.
Ms Day said the team was still shaken but despite the burglary, the committee remained determined not to let the incident overshadow the show’s success.
Police were investigating.
‘‘We’ll definitely be looking at security, but honestly, the office was locked and everything was properly secured,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s frustrating, but we’re not letting it take away from what was an amazing weekend.’’
