Police are seeking witnesses to a burglary at a top Birmingham venue.

Burglars have raided Birmingham’s Portland Centre then torched it causing £100,000 worth of damage and destroying a quarter of a million pounds worth of musical instruments.

They struck in the early hours of last Tuesday morning (9th October) when they kicked a hole in the front door of the building on Portland Road, Edgabston. The vandals ransacked 25 offices at the centre and stole several laptops before starting a number of fires in three downstairs storage areas.

Detectives are trawling through CCTV footage and forensic teams are carrying out their own examinations in an attempt to identify the perpetrators. Meanwhile officers are encouraging anyone who may have seen what happened, or who has any information about who is responsible, to come forward.

Detective Sergeant Matt Stone, from Birmingham South CID, said: “The fire has caused a massive amount of damage and appears to have simply been a wanton act of vandalism.

“The musical instruments were specifically for schools around the Birmingham area and so the impact on the wider community is huge. We’re following up a number of lines of enquiry but we still need people to come forward and speak to us if they saw anything suspicious. Even the smallest piece of information could form a crucial part of our inquiry.”

Anyone with information should call 101 or the independent charity  Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.