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At first, mindless vandals were suspected after valuable historical artefacts were destroyed in a rampage through a NSW museum.

The culprit is now behind bars.

It was a possum.

Members of the Moruya and District Historical Society, at Moruya on the NSW south coast, had initially blamed a "human hand" for the late night rampage, which caused thousands of dollars in damage.The 280-member society established the museum more than 30 years ago, acquiring artefacts dating back to the 1830s to record the history of the area, and housing them in a building that itself is well over 100 years old.

But on Wednesday morning society president Michael Gold and treasurer Andy McKenzie opened up the museum to find at least 20 items of glassware smashed and 10 framed pictures resting on glass display cases knocked over.

"I got down there and it was pretty devastating to find what we found," Mr Gold told AAP.

"But as we gradually investigated we realised that it was so haphazard that it wasn't a human hand - it couldn't have been."When they entered a room containing an 1850s dining room setting, the evidence was unmistakable.

"All of the stuff had been knocked off the table but we found four distinct paw prints on the white table cloth," Mr Gold said."So we looked at each other and made the gradual discovery that we weren't dealing with vandals - we were dealing with a furry vandal."Once they realised the possum was still in the building, a trap was set and the possum was caught on Friday morning.

Neighbours say they heard damage on Monday night, and as the museum did not open again until Wednesday, it appears the marsupial had free rein of the premises for two days.

Mr Gold said he and Mr McKenzie were initially distraught over the estimated $3,000 worth of damage to items that may never be able to be replaced.

"We were absolutely devastated at first," he said."But as it dawned on us what had happened, we had to sort of smile at each other and say 'well, you know, it's an act of God really and we'll just have to take it'.

"And we'll have to gradually replace what we've lost."

The wildlife rescue organisation WIRES is to take custody of the possum.

Possum rampages through NSW museum
Friday Nov 2 13:22 AEDT