Carpentry and Construction School level 3 student Leighana Buchanan said they arrived at the workshop yesterday to find all their tools gone.
"[We] went to go unlock and put on our tool belts and all of the sheds were busted open and all the tools taken. All of the students' tools and all of the course’s tools — everything. They even took the insulation."
They were not sure yet how many items were taken, but three tool sheds and all their cubbies were emptied. She believed thousands of dollars were lost.
"Almost all the students have lost some of their own tools, their drill sets . . . I think just the drill set is about $1000."
The incident did not affect only their pockets, but would also put pressure on their schedule as they had to deliver a carpentry project before the holidays and had a tight deadline.
"It's gutting. We've all come here to learn a career, to get a career, to get off the ground somewhere and now we can't complete our learning. We can't build our house which we were meant to do. We can't do anything.
"We are hoping that they [the tools] pop up somewhere and they get returned because otherwise we don't know what we're going to do.
"The other class, this is their last week of course, and then they go off on to their apprenticeships and they have no tools to take to their apprenticeships."
SIT operations lead Daryl Haggerty said SIT was still making an inventory of missing items, but up to 30 students’ full work kits were missing.
He believed the incident happened on Saturday morning and the carpentry workspace was fully fenced.
"There were cameras in place and the footage is being reviewed by the police ... all sheds entered into had secure padlocks."
Most of the tools taken belonged to students. SIT would try to support the students to complete their studies.
"It is very disappointing to have this happen as students look forward to completing their study and entering the workforce equipped with their tools.
"SIT hope the stolen equipment will be found and returned."
A police spokesman said inquiries were ongoing.
