For the second time in five days, burglars smashed through the front of an Atlanta clothing store early Friday and took off with the goods.

The "blue jean bandits" have struck again.

In the latest in a string of similar thefts that have plagued Atlanta police since last summer, Friday's suspects rammed a white pickup truck through the front of the Signature 4 Men store at 2770 Lenox Road.

Atlanta police spokesman Eric Schwartz said a neighbor heard the burglars about 4 a.m. and called police. He said late Friday morning that investigators had not yet tallied up the merchandise stolen from the store.

Early Monday, burglars threw a rock through the glass front door of M III, a Virginia-Highland boutique, then made off with high-end blue jeans and t-shirts, Atlanta police Lt. Willie Jackson said.

Earlier this month, a similar burglary occurred at Boogaloos, a clothing store in downtown Decatur. A jogger heard glass breaking and called police, who arrived to find the front door shattered and the store in disarray.

Last month, thieves made off with about $15,000 in jeans during a 4:30 a.m. burglary at Bluprint, a store on Garrett Street in southeast Atlanta.

Atlanta police have posted a $2,000 reward for information leading to arrests, and in early February they set up a task force aimed at stopping the rash of break-ins.

Schwartz said 10 people have been arrested since the unit was formed. Still, the break-ins have continued.

Investigators said the stolen goods are being sold relatively openly on the street, in nightclub parking lots and even at traffic lights.

"We take these crimes seriously, even though burglary is a very hard crime to solve," Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington said in February.

Some metro businesses have been hit more than once by bandits.

The Thread House, a boutique on West Peachtree Street in Midtown, was burglarized twice in two weeks last summer. The first time, the thieves got in through the back door and stole men's jeans and t-shirts. The second time, suspects bashed in the front door before leaving with about $12,000 worth of women's jeans and shirts.