Eight military police officers have been dishonourably discharged for stealing sweets from a vending machine at the royal family’s stables where they worked.

The Telegraaf says the eight were caught on camera kicking and shaking the machine until it dropped bars of chocolate and rolls of sweets. The investigation was mounted after the owner of the machine complained about missing cash.

The mother of one of the officers involved told the Telegraaf her son, who had only just started working at the stables, was told by other officers that ‘everyone plundered’ the machine.

He had not managed to get anthing out of the machine but was still sacked, she said. The discharge is ‘unbelievable for someone who had pledged to give his life for his country,’ she said.

A spokesman for the military police told the paper there had been an ‘irreparable breach of trust’ because the men had stolen from the building they were supposed to be guarding.