MERLIN, Ore. — The staff of Wildlife Images Rehabiltation & Education Center arrived on Wednesday morning to find that they had been burglarized, according to a statement from the organization.
"On the morning of May 29, Wildlife Images staff arrived to open the facility’s main office and gift shop to find the J. David Siddon Memorial Education & Interpretive Center was burglarized," the statement said.
The staff believes that the burglary happened sometime between 6 p.m. on Tuesday and 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Managers looked over the scene to find that someone had cut through a window screen and the slid open the window to get into the building.
"The building is protected by an alarm system which was activated during the time of the burglary. Unfortunately, the window used to gain access was not part of the system and may have been, in oversight, left unlatched the previous day," Wildlife Images said.
Surveillance cameras around the rehabilitation center's campus did not catch the suspects.
According to Wildlife Images, the burglars grabbed the till from one register, swiped cash from a second, and took money from the donation box on the gift shop counter.
"However, electronics, like a brand new laptop computer was left untouched," the organization said. Staff are still looking over inventory to find out if any merchandise was stolen.
Losses were last estimated at more than $200.
"Though not an exorbitant amount, all proceeds to the non-profit are valued and needed. Costs will also be accrued while making repairs to the window, registers, and replacing the donation box," Wildlife Images said.
The organization said that it has filed an incident report with the Josephine County Sheriff's Office. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Sheriff's Office and reference incident number CSP008283.