Burglarized San Francisco bakery explains boarded front door

SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco bakery owner fed up with the city's response to crime is holding a silent protest.

Someone smashed the glass front door and broke into Le Marais on Sanchez Street last Christmas.

Bakery owner Patrick Ascaso has since posted a letter explaining why the door is still boarded up. He said he applied to the city's storefront vandalism relief program seven times and received one response, saying his application was incomplete, because he didn't include proof of damage.

Ascaso said two San Francisco bakery locations have spent $27,000 in window repairs from vandalism over the past three years and that replacing the front door would cost another $8,000.

He's calling on elected leaders to do more to help small businesses.

Meanwhile, a poll from the Office of Small Business in San Francisco finds many businesses are struggling right now.

A third of small businesses in the city say they were repeatedly targeted by crime, including  vandalism, break-ins, and shoplifting.

Less than 25% of the businesses surveyed said San Francisco is a good place to operate a small business.