Wannabe thief left thong, empty beer bottles at crime scene

The public is urged to keep an eye out for a hungover thief with a missing thong. They are wanted after forcing entry to a popular Toowoomba venue.

This thong was left by thieves who forced entry to Inbound Toowoomba.

An unknown number of thieves must have been disappointed to find empty tills after they forced entry to the Inbound Toowoomba restaurant, about 3.30am Tuesday.

The Railway St venue had been closed since March due to financial pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic, so owner Mark Rawlings had cleared out most of the stock.

In lieu of cash, the thieves helped themselves to a swig of Canadian Club whiskey and a few stubbies of James Boags Premium.

The tills were empty, but replacing them will be costly.

“It is a nuisance more than anything,” Mr Rawlings said.

“The tills are worth a few thousand dollar each.

“They smashed the heritage glass on the door and that will be hard to replace.”

The business is in the refreshment rooms of Toowoomba Heritage-list railway station, which were built in the 1870s, but Mr Rawlings said he did not know if the glass the thieves smashed was of a similar age.

Unknown thieves smash the heritage-listed windows at the Toowoomba Railway Station refreshment rooms.

Adding further insult, they left a Nike thong at the scene.

“If we can find a person with a missing thong, we might be on the something,” Mr Rawlings said

The break-in was a sad end to a difficult year for the business.

Mr Rawlings had hoped to re-open the venue in September, but social distancing rules, travel restrictions and uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it the back to January.

“It was a financial decision, we are primarily a function venue and we were just were not getting the bookings,” he said.

“We have had enough of 2020.”

The thieves had enough time to drink a few beers while looking for cash.