Owners of a supermarket, sushi shop and pub are left cleaning up the mess after a group of young thieves wreaked havoc in Lyttelton on Tuesday.
The small port town just out of Christchurch isn't immune to the crime wave sweeping the country, with one business owner saying it was the first time their store had been burgled in over eight years.
SuperValue Lyttelton owner Rob De Thier was woken up at around 2am on Tuesday by a call saying there had been multiple activations of their security alarm.
He said he loaded up the cameras and saw the thieves, which appeared to be teenagers, kicking the front door window and entering the store.
The offenders took handfuls of cigarettes, vaping gear and alcohol with them, damaging the store in the process.
Photos from the scene show the glass entrance doors smashed and cigarettes scattered across the floor.
De Thier said the offenders tried to steal one of the tills but failed, breaking it in the process.
"[I was] rather annoyed but it's one of those things in retail, it's a matter of not if but when," De Thier told Newshub.
De Thier said it was the first time in his eight-and-a-half years of owning the store he had been hit by a burglary.
"Lyttelton's a pretty good place, pretty safe," he said.
Nama Sushi and The Lyttelton Arms on London St in the town's centre were also hit by thieves, however, it is currently unclear whether it was the same group of offenders.
Police said in a statement they spiked a getaway vehicle on Rutherford St in the Christchurch suburb of Woolston, just under a 10-minute drive from Lyttelton.
The alleged offenders fled from the vehicle and a police dog team was used to track them down.
Two people were located by the police and officers found a cash register and cigarettes inside the vehicle. Police said they are speaking with the two alleged offenders.
The investigation remains ongoing, including determining any links between the reported break-ins.
Police did not say whether any arrests had been made.
Canterbury businesses left in fear
Canterbury businesses have said they are growing increasingly concerned about the incidences of crime and antisocial behaviour impacting businesses and residents.
At the end of November, eighty businesses from throughout the Canterbury region signed a joint letter, coordinated by the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce, requesting an urgent response from the Government.
They said they felt left out of the Government's new crime prevention fund to support local councils in Auckland, Hamilton and Bay of Plenty with crime prevention programmes.
While figures show Auckland, Hamilton and Bay of Plenty are the areas most hit by the recent spate of ram raids, frustrated Canterbury business owners have called for the focus to shift to the "poor cousin of the south".
