Upon arriving at the Booker House yesterday morning, public relations employees found that several pieces of computer and office equipment, valued at $32,135.19, were missing from the Madison Lane office.
The Booker House accommodates the University's public relations services including Community Relations, News Service, State Government Relations, and University Relations offices.
According to University Police Lt. James Abbott, cameras, production equipment and laptop computers were stolen from the premises sometime between midnight and 6 a.m., when the first employees arrived.
Police said the burglar entered through an unlocked ground floor window.
"It looks like entry was gained through a window on the ground level on the east side of the building, through a window that was closed but not locked," Abbott said.
Other offices were entered through "locked interior doors that were forced open," he said.
Police said they have no suspects and do not know how many perpetrators were involved.
University Relations Director Louise Dudley said because the office had never been burglarized before, the break-in was a shock to employees.
"It's awful when you come in and the interior doors are broken in like that," Dudley said.
According to University News Service Director Carol Wood, the thefts caused delays in the morning but work returned to normal by noon.
"We have 21 people and they're a pretty hardworking crowd -- when we saw that there was going to be a pretty long delay, we had people that went off to the library, to Greenberry's, to Starbucks, with work on their shoulders," Wood said. "We didn't get back to our desks until 10:30 or 11."
Despite the thefts, Dudley said the office is recovering.
"We're back to business," she said.
Burglary -- the breaking and entering of a dwelling with the intent to commit any larceny -- is a Class III felony.
Grand larceny, the theft of goods valued $200 or more, is a punishable by up to twenty years of jail and $2,500 in fines.
(Cavalier Daily News Editor Lindsay Wise contributed to this article.)
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