“Cowardly and unpleasant” crooks vandalised a primary school and stole £11,000 worth of goods.

Thieves broke into Benedict Primary School in Church Road, Mitcham, at about 1.30am on May 20 – stealing a total of 17 laptops and several digital cameras.

The burglars also ransacked classrooms and broke windows and doors in their hunt for loot.

Parents were notified in a newsletter of the incident just before half-term.

It stated: “Although this cowardly and unpleasant act is estimated to have cost upwards of £10,000, staff worked hard on Monday to put the school back together, so that the children didn’t suffer too much disruption to their learning.

“Despite our alarm sounding and the fact that lights were seen in the school at 1.30am, the police were not immediately alerted.”

Interim headteacher Simon Harris said: “The school is covered by CCTV cameras and has a burglar alarm. What we are not sure about is although neither of these failed and the theives did trigger the alarm it obviously was not enough to deter them.

“We are looking at our security to make sure that if that happens again, it acts as more of a deterrance.”

He added the damaged windows and doors have now been repaired and the stolen items have been replaced.

He said: “Thankfully we are adequately insured and the items stolen were covered.”

Mr Harris heaped praise on the school’s teachers, who spent that Monday morning swiftly restoring order.

He said: “The staff were brilliant in terms of making sure the day was not lost for the kids.

“It is obviously very disappointing for the staff and the kids. The teachers had to do a lot to get everything in order – classrooms had been completely turned over to find stealable things.”

Merton’s cabinet member for education, Councillor Martin Whelton, said: “I would like to praise the school for coming together so quickly to ensure the school was open on Monday despite the huge challenges caused by mindless criminals. I would like to praise all the staff – they have done fantastic work.”

A spokesman for Merton police said: “The burglary at Benedict School happened between Saturday [May 18] and Monday [May 20] morning.

“Doors and windows were forced open to gain entry and approximately £11,000 worth of assorted computer and camera equipment was stolen.”

Anyone with any information on this crime should call Merton police on 101.