It was a devastating Sunday morning after the teenage owners of Pepper Creek Delight discovered thieves had broken into their summer ice-cream shop outside Fredericton.

Six large tubs of ice cream, almost 70 litres, of ice cream in total, were gone.

Triplets Grace, Caitlin and Mitchell Harrington and their friend Madeleine Gagnon opened the ice-cream shop next to the Pepper Creek Plaza last summer.

When they arrived at work Sunday morning, they found the door to shop broken.

"The deadlock was on the floor when we came in," said Madeleine.

The Saturday night thieves were fussy, too.

They moved the ice-cream tubs around to find the flavours they wanted, said Gaetane Belliveau, Madeleine's mom.

A notice at Pepper Creek Delight lets customers know about the break-in and says the shop will likely reopen Wednesday. (Ed Hunter/CBC )

The flavours they lifted: two tubs of chocolate, two tubs of Udderly Divine, a tub of Toffee Almond Chill, a tub of Peanut Butter Parfait, and some Hoof Prints.

An outpouring of support

At first, the young entrepreneurs weren't sure they would be able to reopen, especially since the remaining ice-cream tubs would also have to go, they said.

"Since we don't know what they did to other ones, we have to throw the rest out," Grace said.

Belliveau said she and her husband were "heartbroken" when they heard about the break-in and didn't think the store could reopen.

"Because we figured with the money to replace the ice cream, the door, and make sure it didn't happen again, we were going to have to close for the summer," she said.

But when one parent posted on Facebook about the stolen ice cream, people started asking if they could help the teens get back on their feet.

The community has raised $1,800 for more ice cream, a new security light and a camera.

A GoFundMe page set up to help the teens get back in business has raised more than $1,800 since last night. (Ed Hunter/CBC )

And that's not all. Ritchie's donated the door and local builder Robert King offered to install it for the teens.

"Oh, if they have a door, I'll be more than happy to put a door on it, beef it up and security and stuff," he said. "They'll need a chainsaw to get into 'er next time. … But, you know, we're neighbours. That's what neighbours do around here."

The teens will reopen the ice cream shop on Wednesday, scooping ice cream with caution in mind.