Police are investigating after they said someone broke into a military museum in Middletown and stole an item Tuesday.
Officers responded to a burglar alarm at the Greater Middletown Military Museum on Walnut Grove Road on Tuesday.
According to investigators, video surveillance shows the suspect wore a mask and used an ax to force entry into the building.
Officials from the museum said the person who broke in took a .45 caliber automatic pistol replica from a Vietnam War display and did not get anything of value.
Besides the stolen item there is also damage to museum’s back door.
“It has been chewed up by an ax with at least a dozen hits if not more trying to get through here," Joan Liska of the museum said.
An extra layer of security kept the thief from gaining access that way, which is when Liska thinks he or she decided to break through the front windows instead.
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“That was shocking. I’m in here on a regular basis, thankfully he came at night. That was disturbing," Liska said.
“There’s items in there that somebody had of interest and wanted to have in their possession," Lt. Heather Desmond of the Middletown Police Department said.
Liska catalogs the collection and was able to pinpoint for police what was missing.
Officers conducted a track for the suspect and evidence, police said. Evidence of the break-in was found by a K9 officer.
Residents in the area have been asked to check their security cameras to see if the suspect is recorded on video between February 10 at 10 p.m. and February 11 at 7 a.m.
Anyone with information should contact Det. Chris Iovene at 860-638-4148.
