OFFICIALS at Grays Athletic football club have spoken of their upset after the discovery of a 'mindless' theft on Saturday.

In a statement the club says: "Our lockup at Parkside suffered a break in recently. Items stolen include footballs, training equipment, merchandise comprising replica shirts, polo shirts, wet tops, hats, scarves etc and copies of Kris Turner's book on the history of the club.

"Obviously the impact of this mindless act has financial implications for the club in terms of lost revenue and immediate additional cost to replace those items especially equipment relating to training and match days, ie footballs, bibs, etc.

"It goes without saying should any supporters be offered any of the stolen items they should contact the local Police immediately."

One crumb of comfort for Grays has been the response of the regional football community with messages of sympathy summed up by Felixstowe and Walton, who tweeted: "Sorry to hear this, the last thing that hardworking volunteers need. I run the club shop at Felixstowe & Walton Utd. I'll be sending you an envelope with our donation in so we can play our small part in helping you recover your losses."

Grays responded by saying: "So generous, a great club with great people. Thank you."

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