Burglar steals $2K worth of supplies from San Francisco school

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - Friday's wet weather kept kids at San Francisco's Marshall Elementary School indoors and away from their outdoor garden classroom- the target of a greedy burglar last weekend.

Principal Peter Avila told KTVU that surveillance camera video shows a woman in her 30's or 40's made three trips to steal from the campus, climbing over a gate at 3 a.m., 6 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

She stole a wheelbarrow, a dolly, art supplies and gardening equipment from three sheds, along with an earthquake preparedness kit with enough snacks and water to feed 250 kids.

"[She also took] the two way radio, the tools to shut down gas. And hammer and shovels if we have to rescue kids if somebody's trapped," said Avila. "Nobody's ever broken in so this was a little bit disappointing."

In all, it's a loss of about $2,000 worth of gear in a theft that's saddened teachers and parents. "We were really surprised and surprised to hear that it went on for several hours and no one sort of noticed anything peculiar," said parent Michele Mcm-Cost.

A school neighbor has launched a Go Fund Me campaign to replace the stolen items.

The earthquake supply shed is now bolted shut. Avila worries that extra bit of security may slow down teachers in a crisis.

"Now if there is an emergency, we're going to have to make sure that everybody has a key to get into the supply shed - might be added time to get to those materials," said Avila.

The San Francisco School District is working to replace the earthquake kit. Several of the stolen items were marked as property of Marshall Elementary.

Anyone who comes across any of the stolen gear or knows anything about the theft is asked to call the San Francisco Police Department.