Thousands of dollars worth of tools have been looted from an auto-electrical business in Wickham that was the scene of a massive early-morning inferno two weeks ago.
Police are investigating the break and enter over the weekend at Newcastle Auto Electrics on Foundry Street, which was left severely damaged after an early-morning fire broke out
Police were already investigating the cause of the blaze, which remains unknown but is not being treated as suspicious, and are now hunting those responsible for the theft of several tools from the site, which has been cordoned off following the fire.
It's believed the incident occurred between 3pm on Friday, February 23 and 7.30am on Monday, February 26.
"Police have been told that several tools owned by the business and its employees were stolen," a police spokesperson said.
"Police from Newcastle City Police District have commenced an investigation into the incident and urge anyone with information to come forward."
Police are investigating whether the theft was carried out by an individual or involved multiple people.
It's understood the theft was discovered when an employee came to pick up some tools, only to find they were missing.
Emergency services were called to the automotive business in the early hours of Thursday, February 15, when a fire broke out at about 3.40am.
Several NSW Fire and Rescue units were confronted by "significant fire activity", with flames and smoke pushing out through all of the vents.
The fire threatened to spread to neighbouring properties, but the efforts of about 40 firefighters and a dozen fire fighters over two hours managed to contain and extinguish the blaze.
The building's roof collapsed and more than 30 cars inside the business were destroyed during the incident.
