BUCKTOWN — The neighborhood's first cat cafe and lounge was vandalized weeks before a planned Halloween debut.
Sometime between late Sunday and early Monday, the glass door to The Windy Kitty Cat Cafe & Lounge was smashed by vandals. Additionally, all three of the storefront windows were tagged with graffiti.
"Heart is truly broken over this. Why?" The Witty Kitty Cat Cafe's owner Jenny Tiner posted to her Facebook page on Tuesday night, along with a video of the damages to the cafe door, 1746 W. North Ave. in Bucktown.
On Tuesday, Tiner told DNAinfo that she has not yet filed a police report and her insurance deductible is so high that the cost of repairing the door is less than the deductible — so she's hoping to crowd source $1,975 to replace the glass in the front door.
"I am so sad for so many reasons. It worries me on so many levels and about a range of different things and on top of that just the idea that someone would do this to anyone trying to do good in the world and make their own way in the world is just ugly," Tiner posted on her YouCaring campaign.
Launched on Monday, the campaign to repair the door has raised $170 from 5 supporters.
RELATED: Bucktown's Cat Cafe And Adoption Center Aims To Open By Halloween
Tiner said "the bright side" of the incident has made her to think about enhanced security at the cafe. She plans to install security cameras and motion detectors.
"I will be going above and beyond what I thought was enough already, to protect the living beauties soon to be inside. Such a shame that I even have to worry," Tiner posted on YouCaring.
Tiner said that the cats, once they arrive, will be at The Windy Kitty Cafe & Lounge full-time, 24 hours a day, until they are adopted.
The cafe, which will be Chicago-themed and decked out in red, gray, white and turquoise, will offer free WiFi and lots of places to sit and hang out with up to 15 resident cats, who are all adoptable through Roscoe Village-based Alive Rescue.
There will be a $10 entry fee per person to hang out. If patrons are just shopping for a gift, there is no entry fee.
In July, Tiner raised $6,451 from 110 backers in an Indiegogo campaign aimed at opening the Windy Kitty Cat Cafe and Lounge initially on Clark Street in Lincoln Park. That location fell through due to a zoning issue, Tiner said.
Tiner's goal was to raise $35,000 but she says after the campaign ended, she got a generous donation from Kansas-based veterinary health company CEVA, as well as other donations to help foot the start-up bills.
In addition to The Windy Kitty Cat Cafe & Lounge, a neighboring retail storefront at 1750 W. North Ave. was burglarized last month after robbers drove an SUV through it and stole sneakers.
