Scottish Thieves Hit Island’s Only Store in Rare Crime
Wool hats, sweets and toiletries among the stolen items, police say.
LONDON— -- The only shop on a tiny Scottish island has been robbed, reportedly marking the first crime in decades in the archipelago.
Located off the west coast of Scotland, the 4.3 miles long and 0.9 miles wide Isle of Canna has a population of about 20 people.
The doors of the sole community shop are left open [overnight], "specifically to welcome fisherman in, to use Wi-Fi and buy anything they needed while resting in at our pier overnight," a conservation initiative called the Isle of Canna Community Development Trust said in a written statement.
Operating on an "honesty basis,” shoppers are asked to leave money in a box after purchasing items.
Over the weekend, however, volunteers running the shop discovered that the shelves had been cleared on Friday.
"A number of items were reported as stolen, consisting of hand-knitted woolen hats, confectionery and toiletries," police told ABC News in a statement.
Police could not immediately confirm media reports saying this was the first crime in the Island's history.
The Island was gifted to the National Trust of Scotland in 1981 by Celtic scholar and conservationist John Lorne Campbell and his wife Margaret Fay Shaw.
In a statement to ABC News, the National Trust of Scotland said such incidents were "extremely rare" and that Canna "is a very safe place.”
Explaining the value of the honesty basis system, staffers from the shop have expressed concerns about the future of their business.
"With such a small community, this is the only way our shop can be viably run to provide a valuable service to locals and visitors,” the Isle of Canna Community Development Trust statement said. “Thefts like this put our shop in jeopardy and may mean it will have to close which would be a real shame after all the hard work and voluntary hours that go into it.
"Sadly, this means we will have to lock the door the shop overnight now."