Brazen opportunistic thief caught on CCTV stealing chained-up gazebo from front garden in Kent

Shocking video shows a brazen thief wander into a front garden - and walk away with a gazebo that was chained up. The man can be see entering the front garden and lifting the gazebo - leaving one leg behind.

‘Complete and utter nightmare’

The victim has described it as a ‘complete and utter nightmare’. Stuart Whibley, 50, noticed on Thursday June 20th that his gazebo, which he uses for charity fundraising events, was missing. When he checked his home CCTV, he was shocked to see what had happened.

Stuart, from Gillingham, Kent, said: "It's a complete and utter nightmare. My wife and I were both inside the house on Wednesday when the it happened but neither of us heard anything. I just can't understand why someone wouldn't even knock on the door to ask if it was scrap or something."

Charity events for Cancer Research

Stuart and his wife Sherry use the gazebo to host seasonal charity events to raise money for mental health charity Mind UK and Cancer Research. He added: “They didn't even notice one of the legs was chained down, so they left without one of the legs. It can't even really be used like that"

They used the gazebo for two events - Halloween and Christmas - with the former bringing in £220 for Mind UK. Stuart said: "It's not going to be the same now we don't have the gazebo to extend the decorations out on to the pavement. Without the gazebo, the events are going to have to be a lot smaller." Stuart has reported the incident to the police.