Burglars have made off with hundreds of iconic shirts intended to go on sale next week to celebrate NEC football club’s 125th year.

The theft, at the club’s Goffert stadium in Nijmegen, took place at the weekend but was only made public on Thursday. The perpetrators were seen on CCTV digging their way into the grounds and raiding the premises.

According to general director Wilco van Schaik, complete soccer outfits worth a combined €15,000 were stolen, including 250 special editions of the club’s iconic red, green, and black shirt with vertical lines, set to go on sale on August 26.

“We will have to disappoint a lot of fans,” Van Schik told the AD. “The special editions are worth a lot of money, and I’m just really gutted for the people who worked so hard on them.”

The club has images of the theft. “We think we recognise one of the persons and police are investigating,” he added. “We hope the shirts will be located somewhere in Nijmegen. I can’t comment on whether the person is known to police or NEC, but we know in which direction we should look.”

The remaining shirts are likely to sell like hot cakes, Van Schaik said, but the stolen sizes L, XL, and XXL are apparently the most popular among NEC supporters.

The club has asked its supporters to be vigilant and report any offers of NEC shirts to the club and police.