The Silver Key Cafe in Rutherglen has been broken into just months after reopening, following a fire that damaged most of the building on Main Street.
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But owners Frank and Dawn Leahy are determined to stay positive and know they will be supported in recovering from the incident, as the community has done before.
When the Leahys arrived to open the cafe on Sunday morning, they realised it had been broken into.
Their CCTV recorded a middle-aged man, wearing a black hoodie and a shirt with a partially hidden slogan that included the word ‘raw’, at the building at 3.34am.
Mrs Leahy was upset about the incident and her son Chevy, who runs the cafe with them, spoke on her behalf.
“It’s disappointing this has happened,” he told The Border Mail.
“We want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Mr Leahy didn’t want to provide detail about the break-in, as there had been a number in the area in recent months, but said the cafe was secure and that they were working with police.
The cafe was not significantly damaged and was open to customers on Sunday.
The new-look cafe re-opened in November, after fire gutted the shop in July 2017.
Mr Leahy said the community had welcomed back the business with open arms.
“Some people were concerned it wouldn’t be like it was, but it is, and better,” he said.
“Things have been going really well, and I think a lot of it is to do with the new eat-in style.
“Now that we’ve got an accommodating space that people can socialise in, it’s been busier than before, and we also make our own chips and potato cakes and source everything locally and fresh, which people like.
“We’re doing everything as a cafe, but specialising in burgers and fish and chips.”
Mr Leahy released a photo of the man caught by CCTV on Facebook and within an hour it had nearly 500 shares.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.