Business owners in Melbourne’s south-east have been left devastated after thieves used a stolen cement truck for a heist.

Despite leaving behind a trail of destruction, the crooks came out empty-handed.

It didn’t take much for the stolen cement mixer truck to smash through the glass doors of a Hallam business.

With the mixer still running the thief made a less than graceful exit from the vehicle and ransacked the tyre shop armed with a metal pole.

Dinuka Tissera from DHF Tyres said he’s “devastated”.

“As a small business it’s tough as it is and to go through this rubbish,” he said.

Tissera has owned the store for 10 years.

He’s in disbelief, comparing it to the video game Grand Theft Auto.

The truck was stolen from a nearby supply store about midnight today.

The thieves used a front-end loader to ram the office then steal the keys before hitting three other businesses, including a mechanic, a service station and the tyre shop.

“The penalties are not harsh enough. Running rampant. It’s ridiculous to be honest,” Tissera said.

“It’s actually just a joke to them. They know they’ll just get a slap on the wrist and they’ll do it again next week.”

The machinery was spotted just after 1am in a residential street.

The crooks jumped from the vehicle but it didn’t stop and rolled into a parked car.

One witness said it almost hit a house.

Despite the effort the thieves made to break into the various businesses, they left empty-handed, while the owners were left with hefty damage bills and a mess to clean up.