Police are on the hunt for thieves who they say broke into a local church and stole a computer monitor, causing extensive damage in the process.
The thieves broke into the Community Baptist Church on the 1500 block of Mt. Ephraim Avenue in Camden sometime between Monday night and early Tuesday morning.
David King, the pastor of the church, tells NBC10 the suspects stole a flat screen computer monitor from the church basement. They also caused major damage after breaking through the wall of the back of the church.
According to King, it wasn’t the first time the church was burglarized.
“It’s almost like Groundhog’s Day,” King said. “Over and over.”
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
King claims the church has been burglarized so many times that he’s lost count at this point.
During Good Friday of last year, King says thieves stole monitors, stereos and CDs. During another incident, King says thieves stole AC units, broke into church vans and even took copper molding off the building façade.
In addition to the burglaries, King also says bullets have struck the stained glass of the church at least three times.
According to King, his church hosted several funerals over the past month, which were attended by many nonmembers. King suspects someone attending one of the services cased the building and returned during the burglary.
In spite of all the crime, King says he’d welcome the thieves into his church and doesn’t plan on leaving.
“When you have someone who doesn’t fear God, that will come into a house of God and rob it, that’s a person who’s in bad shape,” King said. “Someone asked, ‘Well, do you ever think of leaving?’ No, if you leave, they win.”
Investigators say there was no surveillance video of the suspects and descriptions have not been released.
If you have any information on the theft, please call Camden Police.
