OXFORD – In the third burglary this year at Dino’s Variety store, a thief took money meant to buy Christmas presents for needy Oxford children.

Gary Paladino arrived sometime after 2 a.m. Sunday to open his variety store on Skeetfield Road, and what he found made his heart sink once again.

“There was blood everywhere,” he recalled Tuesday as he pointed to the floor beneath a window.

“The worst part of it is they stole from the kids,” said the Oxford Elementary School Parents Teachers Association member. “We are so upset with that.”

Taken was a large glass jar behind the checkout counter containing about $65, part of a the PTA’s annual Christmas drive to buy presents for needy pupils at the school.

The latest break-in – it’s the sixth since Paladino bought the store in 2004 – was particularly brazen, he said.

Because only half the window frame and none of the window glass was found in the store or in the surrounding woods, Paladino theorizes the intruder must have carried the glass and frame while ransacking the store. The trail of blood from the window to a back office and back up to the front counter where the money jar was stolen indicated the intruder must have been badly cut.

The odd thing, Paladino said, was that a “swear” jar on the food counter was left untouched. That jar was started this year for patrons who used inappropriate words while at the counter. Each time they uttered a bad word they were assessed 25 cents. That money is also for the schoolchildren.

In the burglary last March, $21,000 worth of merchandise was stolen; the time before that thousands more. And break-ins before those resulted in thousands of dollars in damage to equipment and stolen money.

The latest robbery is under investigation, police said Tuesday.

Paladino said insurance has paid almost nothing over the last six break-ins because an intruder must be caught and prosecuted before full restitution can be made. He said he is frustrated about losing so much in so little time and having to delve into his retirement to keep the store going, but he said the bottom line for him now is the needy children of Oxford.

“I’m more concerned about the kids having a good Christmas,” he said.

Fundraising has begun, Paladino advised. Contributions to the Oxford PTA for Christmas gifts may be made at the store or at the office at Oxford Elementary School, 79 Pleasant St.