Thieves recently broke into a Cape Breton community club and made off with a safe containing thousands of dollars, leaving behind a trail of damage.

Members of the Dominion Community Hawks Club say three suspects cut wires, ripped the security system from the wall, and kicked in doors before making off with the safe early Monday.

Now the club is assessing the damage, estimated to be in the thousands.

“You can see they split into (the door). That’ll have to be replaced, and the doorframe and the trimming about it,” says John Stefura, president of the Dominion Community Hawks Club.

Stefura has belonged to the club for more than 30 years and he says members are upset.

“It’s very disappointing. That’s from a lot of the guys that I’ve spoken to, just for the simple reason of what the Hawks Club does,” says Stefura.

When the club first formed, it was mandated to support kids’ sports in the community. Now the club provides support for many other community organizations in the area.

“The local food banks, anything that people are in need, we’re there for them,” says club treasurer Ernie Polegato.

“Not that long ago we had renovations done, so then to do it all over again, that’s more money taken away from what we do for the community and all that stuff.”

Cape Breton Regional Police are investigating the theft and the club is planning on beefing up its security.

“We’ll just learn by what happened and try to make sure that nothing like this will ever happen again,” says Stefura.

Club members are asking anyone with information about the break-in to contact Cape Breton Regional Police or Crime Stoppers.