Sarnia police are investigating after power tools were stolen from Habitat for Humanity Thursday morning.
Police said a storage area at 1787 London Line was broken into at around 4 a.m. and suspects made-off with a large number of cordless DeWalt tools.
Habitat for Humanity has been victimized by thieves numerous times over the years.
In October 2020, police reported the theft of empty beer bottles and cans, and in April power tools were stolen.
A rash of break-ins and thefts occurred in 2014 and 2015.
Habitat CEO David Waters said it's very costly for a non-profit organization.
"It's just getting really frustrating and expensive for us as an organization. Every time that we have a break-in, there's a cost with that. We have insurance obviously, but there's a deductible every single time, so for a non-profit to lose money, even if it's in the form of a deductible, it's costly."
Waters said in the latest incident the suspects cut a hole in the fence, broke into on of Habitat's handyman trailers and grabbed everything they could carry before fleeing on foot.
He said they've taken many steps to try to address the problem.
"Last year we completely fenced our compound with eight foot barbed-wire fence, but they still keep coming in. We keep making alterations to our trailers to try to make them more secure, but at the end of the day, if people want to get in, they get in. We're going to continue to add steps to make it more difficult, including moving things around in our yard to have better camera angles and things like that, so that's coming."
Anyone with information about the latest theft is asked to contact Cst. Uriah Dodge at 519-344-8861, extension 6225, or Sarnia-Lambton Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.