AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a charities' poppy collection tin was emptied overnight.
The tin had been in place for more than a month at the Pavilion at Harefield Hospital, in Hill End Road.
It was set up by the hospital's League of Friends, an independent charity that raises funds for the hospital.
Dawn Haase, manager of the League of Friends, said: "The tin itself was not stolen, but it was emptied.
"It could only have happened at night; there is no way it could have happened at daytime as we supervise it. The bottom of the tin had been tampered with."
A new tin has been set up with a note to visitors explaining the circumstances, and already £60 has been raised.
"We are all quite upset here. The tin was full up before; we don't have an exact amount on what was taken but it must have been a lot.
"All the people have been generous, we are a charity after all. Security at the hospital are looking into the theft to try to establish what happened."
A spokesman for Harefield Hospital said: "We were disappointed to hear that money was taken from a poppy tin at the League of Friends last week. Visitors to the League of Friends are now generously helping to recoup this money."
