A river of ice cream worth $45,000 has melted in a Darwin outer-suburb after thieves stole a small amount of it, smashing freezer-truck locks and leaving the doors open.

The ice cream was destined for remote communities, Duty Superintendent Louise Jorgensen told the ABC.

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“It looks like somebody has tried to steal a little bit of ice-cream and in the process jemmied open the doors of the refrigerator trucks,” she said.

“They have taken whatever they thought they needed and left the doors open.

“$45,000 worth of ice-cream melted over the trucks and is not useable.”

The doors weren’t closed all weekend and left “a huge sticky, runny mess”.

Temperatures in Darwin reached more than 35 degrees with a humidity level of nearly 90 per cent over the weekend, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.