Shops and service stations targeted in burglaries across Melbourne's east

Police are searching for a group behind a series of burglaries across Melbourne's eastern suburbs over the weekend.

A supermarket on Heidelberg-Warrandyte Road in Warrandyte was the first target, according to police.

Up to four or five offenders allegedly entered the store about 12.30am, smashing a window in the store before fleeing the scene in a Toyota Hilux ute.

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It's believed the same vehicle was later used to ram the front doors of a service station on Waverley Road in Mount Waverley about 2am.

Cash and cigarettes are believed to have been stolen.

Police said the Hilux was spotted at a service station on Dorset Road in Bayswater North just after 3am, where the offenders forced entry into the store.

The offenders were disturbed at a store on Princes Street in Carnegie, where police said they forced entry but left empty-handed.

Police said they then visited another store on Warrigal Road in Chadstone, where they also forced entry but did not take anything.