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LAYTON — Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman said the case is a first for his department.
About 10:40 p.m. Tuesday, someone broke into Summerhays Music, 547 N. Main, and stole seven flutes.
"They ranged from about $1,300 to about $3,400 in value, to come to a total of a little over 20 grand," Lyman said.
What investigators didn't know Wednesday was why the flutes were targeted.
"They did go past quite a few expensive instruments, but they were all quite a bit bigger," he said.
The flutes were sitting on a display table away from the door. There were more expensive instruments closer to the entrance, Lyman said. He speculated that the thief may have targeted the flutes because they're easier to carry.
Otherwise, Lyman didn't know Wednesday why the flutes were the thief's instrument of choice.
When asked if metal thieves could be targeting musical instruments, Lyman wasn't sure. "That would be a tragedy if that was the case, but I'm not ruling it out. I don't really know what the secondary market for that looks like (for stolen flutes)," he said.
Store owner Katelyn Summerhays suspects the thief went for the flutes because the price tags were still on them.
"I highly doubt they knew anything about them," she said.
The flutes are all "100 percent sterling silver," she said, and are all handmade.
"First I was really mad, now I'm bummed. It's just disappointing. It's never fun to show up to work and have half of your stuff gone," Summerhays said. "It feels personal. You came into our place, stole our stuff."
The burglar used an unknown object to break through the front glass door, Lyman said. That set off the alarm inside the business.
The brands of the flutes taken were Trevor James, Haynes, Pearl and Yamaha. Anyone with information on the theft can call police at 801-497-8300.
Contributing: Jed Boal
