NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — During Hurricane Milton, Michele Turner with the Rose Garden Learning Academy thought the biggest threat would be the heavy winds, but it was actually someone breaking in and stealing from them.
“I was absolutely devastated,” Turner said.
Turner said she expected damage after Hurricane Milton but nothing like this. Turner believes vandals accessed their building where parts of the fence were destroyed during the storm.
“This whole window was broken. There was a big paver that was thrown in and the paver and the window was broken. Someone had climbed in through the window,” she explained.
From there, the vandals rummaged through several rooms used as a safe haven for newborns all the way to preschoolers.
“I couldn't imagine why someone would break into a daycare center,” Turner said.
Turner said they took electronics.
“We have an app called Pro-Care where we can let the parents know when they ate, when they were changed, all of that is done through electronics,” Turner said.
She said part of their artificial turf was even stolen. But the most puzzling thing was instead of taking food from the kitchen, the vandals stole candy.
"Why did you steal candy from kids? You know you're stealing candy from babies. No one steals candy from babies, that's absurd,” Turner said.
It happened just two weeks before their trunk-or-treat event. Turner said it may seem small, but it means the world to her kids.
“Trying to explain to a child that there are some people out there that don't always have good intentions, but we're still here, we're safe, we're going to keep all the bad guys out. It's fine,” Turner said.
To get back on their feet, she said it's going to cost thousands of dollars.
“We're probably about five to six thousand in hurricane damage between the two hurricanes and about three thousand dollars on the robbery,” Turner said.
She is asking for donations on GoFundMe. Thanks to her community, she's hopeful they'll bounce back soon.
“So many people were impacted by the Hurricane, so the fact that people are coming to help me, I'm absolutely humbled and speechless to some point,” Turner said.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is investigating the break-in. If you have any information, you are asked to call the tip line at 1-800-706-2488 or submit a tip online.