Posted on 8th December 2014
60 trophies were stolen from the Red Bull Racing Team this weekend
It has emerged over the weekend that over 60 trophies were stolen from the Red Bull Formula 1 team’s factory on Friday night, Thames Valley police has confirmed.
Police said on Saturday that they had received a call to the Milton Keynes factory at 1:30am reporting a group of around six men used a vehicle to drive through the front entrance to gain access to the factory.
Two cars were used, and police said both are believed to have foreign number plates.
In a press statement to the media on Saturday, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner stated the following about the news of the break-in:-
'We are obviously devastated by this serious factory break-in, which saw offenders drive a vehicle through our front entrance and steal more than 60 trophies which took years and hard work to accumulate.
'The break-in caused significant damage and was very upsetting for our night officers who were on duty at the time. The offenders took items that not only did not belong to them, but which represented the efforts of a group of dedicated, hard-working individuals.
'Beyond the aggressive nature of this break-in, we are perplexed why anyone would take these trophies.
The value to the team is of course extraordinarily high due to the sheer hard work and effort that went into winning each and every one.
'But their intrinsic value is low; they would be of little benefit to those outside of the team and, in addition to that, many of the trophies on display were replicas.
'The actions of these men mean it’s likely that we will have to make our site less accessible in the future, which will be unfair on the hundreds of fans that travel to visit our factory each year to see our trophies and our Formula 1 car.
'We would like to appeal to anyone who knows any information on the whereabouts of these trophies or the offenders involved to contact Thames Valley Police.'
I am sure that the majority of pundits and fans are shocked and appalled to have heard of this awful situation over the weekend. I am shocked personally that a group of individuals could stoop so low to do this and cause significant damage to property and also to everyone who works for Red Bull personally too.
As Horner says himself; everyone who works for the team has put in a lot of hard work and effort to achieve these trophies over the past few years and are completely shocked and horrified that a group of individuals could steal this away from them. I would agree with Horner and I don't understand why they have stolen the trophies in the manner that they have, even if they are replicas.
It is the principle that a group of people could do that to an organisation that have enjoyed immense success over the past few seasons and take away the reminder of that from them. It is now understandable that Red Bull will be making their factory less accessible to the fans as a result of what has happened last weekend and that is a real shame for their fans and fans of the sport who would like to see just what goes on behind the scenes.
But the main thing is that the police have reported that none of the night staff working at the factory were harmed while the break-in was taking place and that is a relief. But I truly hope that the police find the individuals who have committed this crime and are punished with the full length of the law as quickly as possible.
