ALABAMA COMPUTER EQUIPMENT STOLEN Thousands of dollars of electronics stolen from Troy University - WSFA 12 News Montgomery, AL |:

Thousands of dollars of electronics stolen from Troy University
Posted: Sep 23, 2009 7:43 PM EDT Updated: Sep 23, 2009 7:43 PM EDT

Troy, AL (WSFA) - Thieves strike Troy University. Thousands of dollars of equipment is missing from the John M. Long School of Music, but students and professors say they lost more than just a few pieces of electronics.

The thieves appeared to have broken into Smith Hall through a window, and once inside, kicked in the door to "Recording Studio A".

While the alarm sounded, the burglars worked fast. They made out with more than $20-thousand dollars of electronics.

Smith said, "It was clear that thieves came in with some sort of objective in mind. It appears to be centered around the computer system. They took out our computer system that included some recording equipment."

And if losing thousands of dollars of equipment wasn't enough, students say some things that were lost can never be recovered.

Graduate Student Shane Brantley said, "There's time that can't really be gotten back. We have students that recorded on some of those projects that are no longer here, and so if we did indeed lose those projects, that's something that we can't really ever get back."

While they were lucky some of those projects were saved in other locations, that studio, which serves a large group of students and professors in the department, now stands empty.

Smith said, "It's unfortunate this type of activity did occur because it does impact many more people than might be apparent. However, now we do move on."

So while students head back to class to start over on their projects, University officials and police are tracking down those responsible.

They hope surveillance cameras will provide a clear picture of the thieves in action.

This isn't the first time thieves have targeted Troy University.

Back in 2006, four computers and a projector were stolen from offices in Troy's Math and Science Complex.