TECHNOLOGY thieves who must have thought they had made off with a hoard of computer monitors from Worcester Sixth Form College actually stole a number of screens ready to be recycled.

The college in Spetchley Road was broken into at two separate locations at about 4.35am on Monday morning, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Richard Adey, a member of the senior management team at the college, said as the screens were in boxes the thieves probably thought they were new – but were essentially worthless.

He said: “They were in boxes which made it look like they were brand new but they were in fact our old screens.

“They’re being used by students to make computers. Essentially they were being recycled.

“In terms of value they’re not worth very much. They’d probably go for £20 each on eBay.”

However, the thieves did make off with a number of cameras from the college’s art department.

“The cameras were actually in use so we’ve had to replace them,” Mr Adey said.

He said staff were first made aware of the raid when the alarm went off, which he believes may have caused the thief or thieves to flee.

“Not very much was stolen,” he said.

“The more annoying aspect of it is that in each case they damaged the windows and the window panes.

“In one case they smashed through the glass and in the second case they removed the whole window which was one of our new pieces of cladding. The value of the property is probably less than £500 but the damage to the building is about £2,500.”

Due to barriers across the college’s driveway, the perpetrators would not have been able to drive a vehicle onto the site.

But Mr Adey said they could have approached on foot off Spetchley Road or from Nunnery Wood High School.

He said: “The site was secured as normal. It’s irritating and upsetting that damage has been done.

“Clearly it’s money that doesn’t get spent on resources for students.”

Anyone with information about the incident should contact police on 101, quoting reference number 0008/N/040313.