“The desperate man then calmly jumped out of the taxi, walked through the huge hole in the facade of the Kitchener Cafe, stayed there for a few seconds and walked down the street towards us.

“This was horrific to witness and saddening to think about the aftermath.”

Today, South Wairarapa Mayor Martin Connelly said he was told the cafe had at least partially reopened following a massive effort by the community to clean up the damage and mess.

“I was there Saturday morning as everything was picking up, and there was a tremendous community effort to get everything back to a safe state, I think,” he said.

“There was a lot of mess and debris that was cleared up by noon”.

“I got a message this morning letting me know that Kitchener’s Cafe will start selling coffee and takeout at least today or tomorrow… you’d probably imagine they’ll be doing more business than they’ve ever had.

“As you walk in you’ll probably go over a few broken pieces of pavement and there’ll be a huge hole in the wall, but no one will care and everyone will be so happy they could do it. stand back.”

Connelly said people were “shocked and horrified” by what could happen to a “village institution.”

He said Kitchener is one of those cafes that all the locals go to.

Kitchener posted on Facebook yesterday saying the building had been “repaired enough to open safely.”

“See you tomorrow,” they wrote.

The post received positive comments from locals.

“Even using the front loader doesn’t stop us from giving you the best service and kai… legends,” one person wrote.

“I am absolutely heartbroken and angry that this happened to you,” another wrote. “But the town’s shopkeepers gathering to help you makes me want to cry. This is truly the spirit of the beautiful town of Martinborough. See you tomorrow. I think you might need to double down on your usual Monday stakes.

Police said they took part in the robbery of a commercial building in Martinborough at around 11.40pm that night, and a front-end loader entered the building.

“Investigations continue to find the culprit and determine the circumstances of the incident.”

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them online or at 105 and use reference number 241116/2640.

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