Te Puna Quarry Park volunteers are shocked to find that their defibrillator unit has been ripped off the wall and taken from the park on Friday night.

The life-saving device was installed at Te Puna Quarry Park less than 12 months ago following a generous donation by Tauranga local Murray Wilson.

Murray's daughter Melisa Wilson, who is a trustee of Heartbox NZ, saw the unit was missing on Saturday morning when taking her dog for a walk at the park.

'I noticed it's been jimmied. They've used a crowbar and taken the whole lock box but left the red cover behind,” says Melisa.

She immediately sent a text to Te Puna Quarry Park committee member Shona Purves to ask if she was aware of the theft.

'She says ‘no' but she says she was working at the park on Friday - yesterday - and the unit was there then, so it's happened overnight.”

Melisa says Shona has contacted Police.

The AED was ripped off the wall on Friday night, November 18, with the cover left behind. Photo: Supplied.

'Police received a report this morning about 10am that a Te Puna Quarry Road address had had a defibrillator taken from outside the property overnight,” says a Police spokesperson.

'Police are making enquiries.”

The new AED unit has been stored in a locked box on the exterior wall of the Gallery inside the park.

or anyone needing to urgently use an AED to help save a life, access is obtained by calling 111 who will issue the code to access the AED from the locked box.

The Te Puna Quarry Park Society which runs the park had initially held a plant sale to raise funds towards the AED, which costs about $3000. The plant sale also incorporated CPR and AED demonstrations for those attending to raise awareness on just how easy an AED is to use.

'As a family we use the park a lot,” says Melisa. 'Dad goes out about two to three times a week. I said to him about how I'd like to get an AED installed there. Lots of people go out there, a lot of volunteers are elderly and with the state of Tauranga traffic, every minute is vital, so having an AED on site is essential.

'The volunteers planned a plant sale to raise the funds they needed but my dad said he gets so much enjoyment out of the place and decided to donate it.”

The AED was ripped off the wall on Friday night, November 18. Photo: Supplied.

Te Puna Quarry Park is more and more frequented by people of all ages and having an AED accessible in the park, where crowds of people frequently go, particularly in the summer, means lives can be saved.

Studies by St John have revealed that without the use of CPR and an AED unit, the chance of surviving a cardiac arrest decreases by 10 per cent every minute.

However, the use of an AED can increase the chance of surviving by 44 per cent.

'We saw the need in installing an AED as a safety measure for our park visitors as every minute counts when someone is in cardiac arrest,” says Shona.

'With the ever-building traffic congestion in the area, this was a concern to all of us on the committee.”

Volunteers and members were ecstatic to receive such a generous donation from Murray, and put the funds they'd raised from the plant sale towards much needed track maintenance.

'But now some lowlife has ripped off the AED unit,” says Melisa. 'They just left some bolts and the red cover.”

Many community groups and volunteers help with raising funds for Te Puna Quarry Park, including Bethlehem Te Puna Lions who ran a sausage sizzle at the recent Te Puna Quarry Park Plant Day held last weekend. Photo: Doug Morris.

Melisa says surveillance footage from security cameras should help Police with identifying the thief or thieves.

Any business interested in investing in a AED unit for their local community is invited to talk to The Heart Box NZ Charity on 0800 25 25 00 or email theheartbox@exceed.co.nz

Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of the stolen AED unit is asked to contact Police on 105 quoting Police reference 221119/6057. To report a crime anonymously: Call Crime Stoppers free on 0800 555 111.