A gang of six men used a 4x4 to smash through the front entrance and made off with trophies accumulated over five years
More than 60 trophies have been stolen from Formula One’s Red Bull Racing factory after robbers drove a car through the front entrance.
Police believe six men were involved in the smash and grab in Milton Keynes in the early hours today using two cars with foreign number plates.
The trophies, won during the last five years, were showcased in photos of Sebastian Vettel's farewell to the team this week, which may have alerted thieves to the scale of the silverware on offer, it is thought.
Night staff on the premises at the time of the raid were not physically harmed. The Red Bull team claims some of the trophies were replicas.
Speaking to Autosport, team boss Christian Horner said: "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."
Describing the break-in as 'aggressive', he added: "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."
Red Bull won four consecutive constructors' championships from 2010-2013, while Vettel won the drivers' championship in each of those.
Police are hoping to trace two cars used in the burglary - a silver 4x4 used to drive through the entrance and a dark-coloured Mercedes estate.
Both are believed to have foreign number plates.
