Ramsey Rural Museum is calling on the community to help replace thousands of pounds worth of stolen tools.

The site, in Wood Lane, was raided on March 23 with items including angle grinders, cordless drills and a ride-on lawnmower taken.

The museum estimates the value of items taken totalled about £6,000.

“It’s terribly frustrating, and it means there’s a limit to what we can do at the moment,” Jeremy Mumford, treasurer at the museum, said.

“Without these tools there’s a limit to what we can achieve and being an old building it’s a continuous process.”

He added: “We suspect it might be old knowledge because they [the thieves] went into places where the use of that place has been changed. They were looking for tools and the lawnmower and these places used to be where these sorts of things had been.”

The museum hopes to replace all of the stolen items, and since the theft has been unable to cut any of its lawns or get on with vital projects.

Mr Mumford said: “We have a number of projects going on and one is putting up handrails to give access to our Fen Cottage exhibit. The guy who is doing it is bringing his own tools in, but we’re limited to the extent that his tools can do the job.”

He added the museum is “definitely” concerned about the incident happening again and that it’s a possibility some exhibitions will have to be stalled because of the theft.

A fundraising page has been set up to help the museum replace the tools and has so far received £130.

To donate, visit gofundme.com/help-replace-charities-stolen-tools.

The museum is also looking for more volunteers, and anyone interested should call 01487 815715.