Caught on video: Metal thieves who caused £20,000 of damage to Wolverhampton's Compton Hospice

The footage shows the two raiders climbing on wheelie bins to tear lead from the roof of the Lymphoedema Treatment Centre and Education, Training and Fundraising Centre.

Some patients had to have their treatments cancelled due to flooding damage caused by the holes left in the roof.

The thieves also stole tools from sheds and catalytic converters from the hospice's fleet of charity shop delivery vans. Cables to one of the CCTV cameras were cut in a bid to cover their tracks.

Compton chief executive Ron Middleton said: "How thieves could think of targeting a charitable organisation for profit is quite beyond my comprehension.

"These heartless individuals have caused a huge amount of disruption and the consequences of their actions will have a direct impact on the care we provide. Everyone here at the hospice is utterly distraught."

The lead stolen is worth less than £100 but, along with the damage to three of its vans, the crime will cost the hospice more than £20,000 in repairs.

The Cedars site in Compton Road West was targeted in the early hours of Monday and again on Wednesday.

Despite this, the hospice said police were yet to attend the crime scene and officers told them they could not get there until next Tuesday.

Grace Ruston, PR and marketing officer for the hospice, said: "Every year it gets harder and harder to raise funds. Now we find ourselves in a position where we need to raise an additional £20,000. This is a significant amount of money that could have gone towards providing care for patients with terminal illnesses, and instead we are having to raise funds to clear up the mess left my these callous thieves. It is heart-breaking.

"We have had to hire three extra vans because we can't afford not to get those donations for our charity shops.

"If we don't go and get them we haven't got stuff to sell, and if we haven't got stuff to sell in the shops we can't afford patient care."

It costs more than £6 million each year to run the hospice. To help Compton Hospice cover the cost of repairs visit www.compton-hospice.org.uk/fundraising/making-a-donation