The robbery has left principal Melissa Gould shaking her head, after an already hurting community received another kick in the guts.
“We are shattered. They have left us one bike helmet and a pedal,” Ms Gould said, explaining there was at this stage no evidence to reveal the identity of the thieves.
The bicycles, which were donated to the school this year through Variety Victoria after a submission from physical education teacher Mitch Bright, had been stored in a shed on the western side of the school grounds.
“There is no-one close to the storage shed. That is the thing in Rochester at the moment, with so many people not living in their homes,” Ms Gould said.
“What has made it even more difficult is that there are tradies coming and going all the time as we continue to rebuild the school.”
Ms Gould said because of the significant activity on the site, at various times before and after school, people might not have thought to report activity at the college.
Rochester Secondary College’s classes are mainly being held in portable buildings, as renovations continue on its flood-damaged buildings.
Ms Gould said the robbery would have required a large vehicle or more than one trailer to steal the bicycles, locks and helmets.
“When they (the bikes) were delivered, it took a big truck to get them here. It is much more than a trailer load,” she said.
Ms Gould said the thieves appeared to specifically target the shed in which the bicycles and helmets were stored, leaving another two sheds untouched.
The doors of the shed that housed the bicycles was prised open and then pushed back into place to avoid any suspicion.
“They knew which shed to break into it,” Ms Gould said.
The school was only alerted to the fact the bicycles had been stolen when teachers went to access them for a bike-riding session on Friday.
They had only been ridden on a couple of occasions by students from the adjoining secondary and primary schools, but there had been plans made for future activities.
They were last used a week earlier by students who had been aiming to become involved in the Great Victorian Bike Ride.
The nine-day, 540km event will return to the Snowy Mountains for the first time in 25 years.
Ms Gould said the school had not kept the donation of the bicycles a secret.
“We put it out there on our socials, because we were so grateful,” she said.
“Someone has obviously done their research, and this is the result.”
The storage facility is next to the portable classrooms and basketball courts, near the highway.
Ms Gould said physical education classes and outdoor education students had been using the bikes.
“Mitch Bright did a power of work getting these bikes,” she said.
“It is just such a terrible thing to happen to a community that is already hurting.”
Some good news, however, was delivered to the school by Variety Victoria after it was made aware of the incident. The charity has vowed to replace the bikes.
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