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PROVO -- A thief or thieves stole dozens of computers and other equipment from an elementary school in Provo. Police don't have much to go on because there are no alarms or cameras yet at the school.
It happened sometime Sunday night at Amelia Earhart Elementary School at 2585 W. 200 South in Provo.
Principal Jason Cox got to the school early Monday morning to prepare for a teacher training day and discovered the theft.
Cox said, "As soon as I entered the office I knew something was wrong."
Provo Police Capt. Cliff Argyle says they don't have any leads at this point. "No obvious forced entry to the exterior of the school," he said.
But inside 25 doors were smashed, broken, or pried open with crowbars and sledgehammers.
Officers say it appears 60 to 80 laptops, two overhead projectors and five digital cameras are gone. Officers say it looks like the thief or thieves targeted those specific items and tore the school apart looking for them.
Cox says those are tools to help children learn. "The thing that is most painful is that they are stealing from kids," he said.
Provo police say the total loss could be around $100,000.
Cox says school resumed Tuesday, and teachers are reassuring children they are safe at school.
There are no alarms or security cameras at school, so officers don't have much to go on, but Cox hopes someone will come forward.
"The laptops are marked with their regular serial number, but they are also marked Lab A or B, so they are pretty distinct," he explained.
There is a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
The Provo School District says it's working to put alarms in all its schools, and it's getting bids to see if it can afford surveillance systems as well.
This story was compiled with contributions from Mary Richards and Randall Jeppesen.
