It is costing operators money and leaving police perplexed.
Karen Wilson operates the Kangaroo Kourt Preschool and Child Care Center in Tuckerton. Its yard used to be filled with toys, but no more. Over the weekend someone boosted five Cozy Coup trucks and cars, a plastic picnic table, basketball hoops, two tugboats and a rocker.
Altogether the toys were valued at $800. An insurance deductable covers some of it, but Karen will still be out about $200.
"Pretty much anything that was not cemented down went," she said.
Police Chief Mike Caputo believes the same people are responsible for thefts in Stafford Township, Lacy Township, Toms River and Brick Township. All of the crimes have happened since Easter.
"You can almost see somebody taking one or two pieces, bringing it home letting their kids play with it if they can't afford it or whatever. But this is bizarre," Chief Caputo said.
The items taken are not new and, in fact, some are well worn. So why would someone want them? It's a question parents would like answered.
"I have no idea what would possess someone to come and steal children's toys from schools or anything like that. It doesn't make any sense to me," said Michael Smith of Stafford Township.
"These are little kids with their toys, they look forward to coming here every day while parents go to work. Now they have no toys to play with, it's pretty sad," said Ashley Britton of Little Egg Harbor Township.
Police in Toms River say there have been a half dozen similar thefts there, and they have video of the suspects, a man and a woman in a truck.
They released that video from a theft at a Tiny Tots daycare in Little Egg Harbor Township in hopes of identifying the culprits. The video was shot around 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
