Books that could have been taken away for nothing were included in the haul when intruders broke into a Hemel Hempstead town centre charity base.
Confidential papers, two laptops and £260 in cash were also taken from the Healthy Planet Foundation’s ‘books for free’ shop in Marlowes on Thursday.
The shop had to stay closed on Monday because of concerns about damage to electrical circuits and stolen fire safety equipment, but is now open again.
Volunteer Kerrie Stephenson thanked colleagues Flora Heckle, Viv Hosier, Marlene Lenihan, Logan Braven and Martin Braven for their hard work in the wake of the burglary and has appealed for more donations to help them re-stock
The shop distributes books without charge to save them going to landfill, and also supplied gardening equipment to local schools.