Thieves Steal Expensive Equipment From Twin Cities Church
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A small Twin Cities church hopes you can help them find who stole thousands of dollars' worth of equipment. Somebody broke into the shed behind Family of God Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Park last weekend.
"This is the garage that was broken in to," Pastor Paul Burow pointed out.
Burow said the shed door was found open and empty.
"There were two tractors, one of them was a gift, and a multi-purpose for lawn and summer and also for blowing snow, and a lawnmower and weed-wacker," Burow said.
Burow thinks the thieves knew exactly what they were looking for. Nothing was taken from two other nearby sheds.
"It was big equipment, they must've had a trailer on which they drove it up and then drove away with it. It could have been in the middle of the night," Burrow said.
Family of God Lutheran Church has about 600 members. Volunteers used the stolen equipment for snow blowing the sidewalks and parts of the parking lot, as well as lawn care in the spring. This week they had to use shovels to dig out after the snowfall.
"I was pretty disgusted, sad," long-time member Nancy Rhinhart said.
She calls the theft brazen.
"Maybe if someone realizes that someone all of a sudden has a beautiful new tractor and nice snow blower maybe they'd help us to recover them," Rhinhart said.
"And if they happen to be returned, we'd be very glad, and of course we're in the business of forgiveness, and that isn't an issue, but it's also about making things right," Burow said.
Burow estimates the items cost about $20,000. The church is checking to see if insurance will cover the loss. And they are asking if anyone knows anything to call police.
