A ram raid on a shopping centre at Meadow Springs, south of Perth, has caused about $2.5 million damage.

A stolen four-wheel drive was used to smash through the bollards at the front of a Target store on Meadow Springs Drive about 11:30pm yesterday but became stuck and burst into flames.

The fire set off the sprinklers, soaking the stock inside the complex.

The four-wheel drive became stuck in the entrance and burst into flames. ( Mandurah Coastal Times )

Police apprehended one of the alleged offenders, a 35-year-old Ocean Reef man, a short distance from the shopping centre.

A second man, 37, from Greenfields, was later arrested and also charged over the ram raid.

The two men will fact Mandurah Magistrate's Court today, charged with aggravated burglary, stealing a motor vehicle and criminal damage.

Local residents said they heard and saw the police helicopter over the shopping centre late last night and it was believed it helped track one of the offenders.

Another resident, who was out walking early this morning, said they were shocked at the stupidity of the damage.

"People are mad, I don't know what's happening with society," resident May Brett said.

Another resident said the shopping centre was targeted 12 months ago by thieves who tried to blow up an automatic teller machine.

Target spokesman Jim Cooper said the store would be closed for today, and may be shut for some time.

"Given the damage that resulted from the incident, the store's likely to be closed for the the rest of today, and we'll be working with builders once we get access to the site to understand how long the store will be closed for," he said.

"We'll do the right thing by the team members that work at the store, so we're going to make sure none of our permanent team members are disadvantaged.

"They'll be asked to change their hours to help us with stock assessment once we get access to the store, and we've also got a neighbouring store that people can elect to work in temporarily while we get the new store up and running.

Mr Cooper said it was possible the damaged Target store could open partially "fairly quickly".

"[We would] then repair the damaged part of the store going forward, but it's still a little bit early for us to be able to tell at this stage what the damage is going to be," he said.

The staff from Target are being sent to the nearby Rockingham store for the day.

Police have cordoned off a small section of the shopping centre and a police guard remains at the scene.

The four-wheel drive was reported stolen yesterday from a home in Stewart Street, Mandurah.