The offices of the Ministry of Education, Arts, and Culture in Kavango East Region were broken into.

The incident was discovered by staff members who reported for duty on Friday. 

Authorities say they lost valuable items and data that were on the stolen laptops.

Work started on a dull note for staff members of the Directorate of Education office at Rundu on Friday morning.

Officially, the first on the scene was Acting Deputy Director Muhongo Mateya and a junior staff member, who arrived at the office at around 06:40.

According to Mateya, they found the main gate locked as usual before they realised, upon entering the main building, that something was not right.

The act is believed to have taken place during the previous night.

The offices broken into are those of the Director, the Office of the Deputy Director, the Chief Education Officer for Planning and Development, the Senior Education Officer for Planning and Development, the Senior Education Office for Special Education, the Human Resource Registry, the Adult Education Office, and the Creditor's Office.

Items taken reportedly include six laptops, of which one was recovered though damaged, laptop bags, N$1,000 belonging to the speaker and meant as a contribution for an event, and several broken doors.

Mateya called on the community to work together with the police to find the suspects.