Police have joined the hunt for a mystery vandal who has torn up hundreds of novels at a charity shop.

KentOnline exclusively reported two weeks ago that the serial offender – now dubbed the Herne Bay “book ripper” – had been terrorising staff at the Demelza store in Mortimer Street over the last three months.

Shopworkers say as many as 15 paperbacks a week have had their pages ripped in half by the unknown customer since Easter.

Over the past fortnight, a countrywide search for the vandal has begun, with most national newspapers reporting on the menace.

Now police have launched a probe to nab the ripper.

A spokesman for the force said: “Officers were called on July 9 to reports that pages had been ripped out of books at a business premises in Mortimer Street between June 1 and July 9 and are investigating.”

The slippery perpetrator tears the pages horizontally before putting them back on the shelf.

Shop workers had erected signs to try to deter the sneaky saboteur - but feared this would prove to be ineffective.

However, store manager Nick Rogers says the vandal has not returned since the story was broken by the Gazette.

He said: “I haven’t found any damaged books this week – it seems to have stopped. It seems like the person’s been scared off, but they could come back later when the spotlight’s not on.

“We’re relieved and hopefully things will get back to normal.”

The ripper had been damaging books in the true crime, sport, travel and miscellaneous sections, which cannot be seen by staff stood at the till.

The shop is set to move to the High Street in September, and Mr Rogers believes the pest could still be at large by then.

“We’ve never suspected anyone, so whoever it is is still out there,” he continued.

“A lot of the customers are more aware now, so a lot of people have a look and make their presence known.”

The store’s proceeds are donated to Demelza Hospice Care for Children, a charity that cares for youngsters battling serious or terminal illnesses.

A number of books at Herne Bay Library in the High Street had also been targeted over the last six months.

Staff members had not identified a pattern to the vandalism as the defaced paperbacks had been from a variety of sections.

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