A police cordon was thrown around Kirriemuir early on Saturday after thieves targeted a cash machine in Bank Street.
Police Scotland was alerted just before 5am and confirmed that the ATM had been damaged. Both an outer cordon in the Angus town and an inner cordon cutting off access to Bank Street were established.
Amid a large police presence, detective officers were among the first to carry out enquiries at the scene. It’s understood they were investigating an attempted break-in to the machine, rather than any malicious damage.
As enquiries continued to establish if and how much money had been stolen, the force issued a public appeal to trace a blue car.
No further description of the car was provided, but it was seen in the area at the time of the incident.
Door to door enquiries continue throughout and a review of local and wider area CCTV coverage is underway.
As a result of the incident, the ATM machine is out of action on what is the last Saturday before Christmas – one of the biggest spending days of the year.
Anyone who saw anything suspicious or has information that could help the police was asked to them on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.