An ATM has been stolen from a filling station in Co Armagh in the second such incident in two years.
Police were called to the Portadown Road of Richhill shortly after 4.45am today following a report of suspicious activity in the area.
A PSNI spokesman said: "On the arrival of officers, a digger was located on fire and a built in cash machine had been stolen from the premises, causing substantial damage to the building.
"Our colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service attended and extinguished the fire. We believe the digger was stolen from a site a short distance away.
"Two men were observed wearing dark clothing as they placed the ATM into a trailer and then set fire to the digger before leaving in a white van towards the Portadown Road.
"We have since recovered the van, trailer and ATM on the Moy Road and a full investigation is now under way to determine the circumstances surrounding this theft.
"I am appealing to anyone who was in the area between 4.30am and 4.45am and saw what happened, or who has information which could assist our investigation to call us".
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference 183 of 20/12/22.
DUP Assembly member William Irwin said it was the second time the site had been targeted.
He said during a previous incident in May 2020 the building was damaged and a significant amount of cash stolen.
"This is a shocking crime where a digger has been stolen from a site close by, driven through fences and fields, across a main busy road and then through the Fruitfield fences and eventually to the cash machine housing," he said.
"This is a well-used complex and will certainly inconvenience a great many people who rely on the machine for their cash.
"There will also be a cost to the service station in rebuilding this facility and it illustrates the impact of such criminality. Hopefully those behind this criminality can be apprehended and brought before the courts".
