A local resident witnessed volunteers cleaning up a mess out the front of the store in Kangaroo Flat.

The woman, who asked not to be named, told the Bendigo Advertiser she had also seen cars pull up on different days that week to rifle through goods left as donations.

“People are giving to organisations to help them raise money, care for the needy and assist those facing crises. Then there are these people who go and ransack this stuff,” she said.

“They left quite a mess there too. There was quite a bit of broken crockery there.”

Related: Salvation Army brands rubbish dumped beside donation bins health risk, financial strain

Salvation Army CEO Matt Davis said charities had put a lot of work into education campaigns to stop donations being left after, saying goods could easily be stolen or damaged.

More than 90 per cent of people had got the message, he said. 

The Salvation Army spent $6 million dollars a year in clean up fees, which included fowled, unusable or unsuitable goods.

“It’s a real challenge for us to do that,” Mr Davis said.

The first three weeks of January were the busiest time for year for donations, with many people using the post-Christmas break to tidy up around their homes.

While the Salvation Army did have charity bins its preference was for people to bring goods into the store.

“The key thing in Bendigo is to let people know our Long Gully store is open until 5pm on Saturdays and from 12pm until 4pm Sundays and we can accept donations,” Mr Davis said.

There were also stores in Kangaroo Flat and Bendigo.

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Mr Davis said the Salvation Army appreciated people’s generosity.

“The massive spike we get this time of year really does make our work possible, so thank-you,” he said.

“At the Salvos, 100 per cent of profits go through to funding programs like emergency relief, family violence services as well as alcohol and other support services.”