Owner of The Green Apple Sandwich Bar in the Centrepoint Arcade, Kristine Maclean, said apart from cash and a tip jar, the most notable item taken was a 500 millimetre bottle of hand sanitiser worth $15-$20.

Mrs Maclean said it was the second incident involving the sanitiser bottle.

Two weeks ago she saw a woman try to steal it from her counter and place it in her handbag in broad daylight.

She said had since secured the bottle inside the shop.

"I even had it tied down to the bench with some ribbon," she said.

Mrs Maclean said the break-in occurred last weekend between 3pm Saturday and 5pm Sunday.

"I came here to do some prep work on Sunday night after 5. I came into the arcade. Someone had just wedged open my shutters and got in," she said.

Mrs Maclean said the thief had messed up the inside of the small shop before having to "shimmy" back out under the shutters because the main door was deadlocked.

She said the theft created a problem for her business as she needed to have sanitiser to be allowed to trade under coronavirus restrictions and it is in short supply due to hoarding.

Mrs Maclean said police were examining CCTV footage.