University Police responded to a report of attempted burglary from a University professor working on the first floor of Alderman Library last night at about 7:15 p.m.
Book Arts Press Prof. Terry Belanger said he contacted police after encountering a suspicious black male in his office.
"I just walked into the room and [the suspect] asked where the bathroom was and walked out," Belanger said.
After the intruder left, he said he discovered a closet door was damaged in an attempt to jimmy it open.
He added that the vandal was a black male in his mid-20s dressed in work clothes and did not appear to be a student.
Belanger said police and Reporting Officer David Bernard arrived immediately but did not try to locate any suspects because of the size of the Alderman building.
"By the time I realized [the intruder] had tried to get into my closet, he must have been gone five minutes and been half a mile away," he said. "We never saw him again."
University Police Sgt. Tom Durrer said nothing was stolen and no one was hurt as a result of the incident.
The only damage found was done to the closet - which only contained inexpensive photography equipment.
Belanger said police dusted for fingerprints and conducted a "very professional and very thorough" one-and-a-half-hour investigation.
He said library officials will investigate whether there was additional property loss or damage done in other parts of the building today.
He added that there have been several burglaries at Alderman while he has worked at the library.
"It's usually opportunistic theft," Belanger said.
Thieves "often take a student's backpack or their textbooks left unattended so they can go fence them somewhere or sell them at a bookstore," he said.
University police said the incident still is under investigation.
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