Vandals broke into the Connecticut Trolley Museum early Saturday morning, smashing several windows and racking up thousands of dollars worth of damage, according to an employee.

Tim Lesniak, the museum’s corporate secretary, said that the building’s alarm system alerted East Windsor Police of a break-in at 2:40 a.m. Saturday. Police arrived to the museum to find that the windows had been shattered in the main hall and the theatre, and that the air conditioning unit had been removed from the building for access to the museum’s gift shop.

Lesniak said that the shop’s cash register was “cleaned out” and that a number of toys and soda were taken.

“We’re still finding damage,” Lesniak said. "It could be nearly $6,000 after the assessment is completed."

Lesniak said that this is the first time in recent memory that the museum had been broken into. “It’s devastating for our volunteers because they work so hard to keep this place going, and to have this happen … it hits hard,” he said.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact East Windsor Police at 860-292-8240.

The museum is currently operating under its normal schedule.

The museum is a non-profit organization. Anyone wishing to donate to the museum to help with repairs may send a tax-exempt donation to:

Connecticut Trolley Museum

PO Box 360

East Windsor, CT 06088