On Monday morning, two people allegedly broke into a Mary Potter Hospice shop in Wellington.

Two people have been caught on camera breaking into a Wellington hospice shop and stealing items during the coronavirus lockdown.

In the early hours of Monday morning, two people broke into a Mary Potter Hospice shop on Wellington's Thorndon Quay.

The people, wearing hoodies, could be seen walking through the shop and rummaging through items on a shelf, taking them before rushing out the door.

Mary Potter Hospice chief executive Brent Alderton said the theft was disappointing.

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Mary Potter Hospice was currently looking after 270 people and it relied on the generosity of Wellingtonians who bought items from their stores.

The stores were currently closed at the moment due to the lockdown but Alderton said the break-in had been a distraction as staff had to go and tidy it all up.

The people stole items of value, he said.

ROSA WOODS/STUFF There are only a handful of essential services with their doors open to the public during lockdown.

"New Zealanders are making a lot of sacrifices to do things that are good for the community at the moment and to have people that compromise that is disappointing," he said.

"To steal from any business is terrible but to steal from a charity is very poor, particularly when people are working so hard to look after Wellingtonians that are terminally ill." ​

On a Facebook post written on Monday, Mary Potter Hospice said the people who broke into its Hospice shop and stole donated goods should be ashamed of themselves.

"Times are tough for us.

"We're trying to do our best for our patients through really difficult circumstances."

MARY POTTER HOSPICE/SUPPLIED Two people have been caught on camera breaking into a Wellington hospice shop on Monday morning.

Mary Potter Hospice shops across Wellington have been closed throughout the lockdown, which began on midnight March 25. However its clinical services were still running.

There has been no set date for when the level 4 alert lockdown will be lifted but it was expected to last for at least four weeks.

WHAT SHOPS ARE OPEN DURING LOCKDOWN?

There are only a handful of essential services with their doors open to the public during lockdown.

These include supermarkets and pharmacies, and a handful of trade retailers such as Mitre 10 and Bunnings (open to trade customers).

However, a number of stores have been reclassified as essential due to the items they sell. The Warehouse, Kmart, Briscoes, Smiths City and Noel Leeming are on this list.

Their brick and mortar stores remain closed for the duration of the lockdown, but a number of essential items like heating, bedding, kitchen appliances, whiteware, and electronics are available to purchase online or over the phone for contactless home delivery.

Independent bakeries, butchers and greengrocers were given the green light to operate home deliveries on Monday. The retail stores remain closed to the public.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern said "we cannot have people consistently being in interaction with each other through the retail side of multiple different food suppliers".