Tools stolen from Habitat for Humanity
July 04, 2008 - 09:11 AM
by Staff Report
by Staff Report
Executive Director Wayne Wegner said the chest contained tools purchased from Lowe’s at a steep discount in May. Workers arrived Wednesday morning to find the back door kicked in and the chest missing. Volunteers work on the house Saturdays and Wednesdays, so the chest remained unattended through the beginning of the week.
Wegner said it looks like whoever took the chest broke in with a sledge hammer. The back doorframe will need replacing.
Although the chest sat in an unattended house, it was held shut with two different locks, and weighed 300 to 400 pounds.
“It was locked up tighter than a drum,” Wegner said.
It was the third such robbery the agency has experienced in four years. After the last one, two years ago, Habitat implemented security measures suggested by police. But this chest was waiting inside a partially built home while Habitat acquired a new storage trailer.
The loss of the tools sets back the agency’s work, with two houses in the process and four more coming in the fall thanks to a grant from the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans financial services organization.
The robbery comes as a low blow to Wegner, as the agency heads into a busy season of home building.
“We are in such a great phase for Habitat for Humanity right here,” he said. “It just kind of hits you in the gut when things are rosy and things like this happen — it’s just horrible.”
Wegner reported the robbery to Sedro-Woolley police and alerted local pawn shops to watch out for power tools. He said all the tools were marked with the agency’s initials, “SHFH.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police at 360-855-0111.
* Aaron Burkhalter can be reached at 360-416-2141 or .
