Thieves have hit Habitat for Humanity’s DeKalb County branch for the third time.
The first time was a couple of weeks ago when locks were cut on the shipping containers where tools and equipment are stored at Belvedere United Methodist Church on Midway Road.
They took the big stuff first, executive director John Shaffer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. By the third time Tuesday night or early Wednesday, “they pretty well cleaned us out. We lost about everything.”
He said they even took buckets of “ragtag hammers."
"For years we've been fine, then all of a sudden a few weeks ago, we had one break-in and they took some real valuable tools, the high-end stuff ... they actually cut apart the shipping containers."
Shaffer said after the first break-in they installed stronger locks but the thieves weren't deterred, returning a few days later and then again Tuesday night.
Shaffer suspects the thieves used a “big box truck” to haul away the loot because of the size of some of the equipment. And, he said, “they were pretty organized. You couldn't put those size tools or that volume into a little pickup or cars."
He estimated the loss at $9,000 and said police were not optimistic that any of the equipment would be recovered.
"To see something like this happen by people who just have no morals apparently ... it's a real blow."
Shaffer said anyone wanting to help replace equipment should check the DeKalb branch's website. "We've got instructions on there for cash donations and people cleaning out their sheds with duplicate tools or lightly used tools, we'd love to take advantage of that ... We know the community's out there, they support us and look forward to their help."
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