YORK stone paving valued at more than £8,000 has been stolen in two separate raids in the Haslemere area. Police are linking the two thefts which took place at The Royal School, Haslemere, last Friday and another at the war memorial in Witley earlier in the same week. Thieves are believed to have targeted the private school in Farnham Lane in the early hours and were spotted by a caretaker at the school as they made their escape after loading up an old white Transit van with the slabs. The caretaker was woken by the sound of a vehicle at the Hazel Grove site at around 4.50am. He looked out of the window to see the van which appeared to be weighed down as it was heading towards the school's main exit. As he went to investigate he saw three men run off out of a back entrance of the school in the direction of High Pitfold. The paving stone is valued at £7,500. The suspects are described as three white men who were all aged in their late teens. Police have issued descriptions of the men – the first suspect is about 5ft 10ins tall, of medium build with very short fair hair. He was wearing a light T-shirt and jeans. The second suspect is described as about 5ft 7ins tall, of stocky build with dark shoulder length hair. The third suspect was of a similar height and of a medium build. Neighbourhood Inspector Simon Dann said: "I would ask anyone who may have seen the vehicle in the vicinity of the school or any of these individuals to contact police as soon as possible. "There appears to be a number of thefts of York stone in the Waverley borough at the moment and as the demand for this type of material rises in the summer months, I would encourage residents and businesses to be on their guard for any suspicious activity."
