The real estate agents at Coldwell Banker Tara Properties in Oak Harbor came into work Tuesday morning to a nasty shock.

Early that morning someone wedged open a window in a corner office and ransacked the building.

“They trashed the place,” said Sheila Davies, a branch manager. “They just destroyed everything.”

TVs, laptops and other electronics were stolen from the building, located at the corner of State Highway 20 and Ely Street.

Burglars also wreaked havoc on the office. Doors were kicked in or ripped off hinges. Papers were strewn everywhere. Framed photos were broken.

The perpetrators even stole a new Costco-sized container of red licorice and left a few half-eaten whips on the floor.

Virtually all the offices were coated with a thin, white dust after the miscreants blasted fire extinguishers all over the building.

Oak Harbor police were still combing through the building at press time, and Chief Ed Green didn’t have information to provide.

The agents were told that when the fire extinguishers went off, they tripped the building’s fire alarm, which brought officials to the scene. That occurred around 4 a.m.

Later Tuesday morning, agents wandered around the building taking stock of what was lost. Wayne Locke thought his office would be safe because it had a lock. They kicked the door in and took his hard drive.

“There’s 30 years of work that can’t be recovered,” he said, taking stock of his trampled office still littered with papers and shattered glass.

It’s not clear what insurance will cover, agent Michael Harris said. But it surely can’t replace at least one thing the thieves took that meant enough to him he kept it displayed on a shelf above his deck — a service medal he received for his time in the Navy.

“I lost sentimental stuff, more heartfelt things that can’t be replaced.”