Police are appealing for information after a quantity of whiskey was stolen during an overnight burglary at a city centre restaurant.
Officers on patrol in the area discovered that the front window of The Lantern on Wellington Place in Belfast City Centre had been broken and upon further inspection, they realised that entry had been gained to the property.
Owner Vijay Kumar said that this latest attack on his restaurant reflects badly on the city.
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"The police arrived at my home this morning to tell me that someone had broken into the restaurant last night," he told Belfast Live.
"They smashed the front door, came in looking for money but they couldn't find any so they look a quantity of alcohol and left again.
"I managed to get the CCTV and you can see the guy empty a bag of potatoes all over the floor before filling the bag with bottles of whiskey."
Vijay said that the costs of repairing the damage will add to the pressure his business is facing due to the continuing rise in costs of ingredients.
"It is a tough time for businesses at the moment and we have been here nine years," he continued.
"We had a break-in in 2018 also and this is the start of the tourist season for us.
"We are right in the middle of the city centre and tourists have been walking past looking at our window all smashed this morning which gives a really bad impression of the city.
"We are rated in theTop 10 restaurants on TripAdvisor and have a 4.7 rating on Google so for people to come past and see this is quite disappointing."
A PSNI spokesperson added: "Police are appealing for information following a burglary at a restaurant in Wellington Place in Belfast City Centre in the early hours of this morning, Morning 5 June.
"At approximately 4.40am, officers on patrol in the area came across a window that had been smashed and discovered that access had been gained to the property.
"On further investigation, it was discovered that a quantity of alcohol had been taken from the premises.
"Anyone who may have witnessed anyone suspicious in the area or anyone who may have CCTV or other footage that could assist with the investigation, to contact police on 101 quoting reference 211 of 05/06/23."
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