ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A north St. Louis church is weighing costly decisions after thieves stole its air conditioning units for the third time in recent years.

Pastor Charles Jones said thieves cut the hardline to the church's cameras and outdoor lights before getting on the roof and stealing two AC units Saturday night at Siloam Missionary Baptist Church.

Jones said he noticed a problem when the church gathered for Sunday school.

 We came here Sunday morning to Sunday school. So I put the air conditioner on, just cooled it off a little. And it wasn't getting cooled,  Jones said.  I wonder, well, there must be something wrong with it. I really didn't think to get on the roof. 

After the service Sunday, Jones went up to the roof to assess the damage.

 There's two of them up there tore up and missing. So I came back around, I called the police,  Jones said.

He added,  It's a little low back there, but it's really not easy. You're taking the time to take a ladder to climb up on the roof to steal the air conditioning unit. 

He said they had a theft happen last year and again three years ago. For the third time during his 15-year tenure at Siloam, the church needs new AC units. He estimated the cost is between $10,000 and $15,000.

 This time they did some damage to the roof back there and to the cage that we have around the air conditioner unit. They even tore into the cage that we have around the unit to protect the unit. But it's also, they cut all our wiring up there,  Jones said.  The lights are hardwired up there. Before they went up there, they cut all the wires, I guess, so the lighting can go off. There's more costs that we have to go into. 

Jones said the church added the cage and a camera on the AC units to provide more security, but that didn't seem to deter the thieves.

Unlike the previous incidents, Jones said he is contemplating not reporting this theft to insurance.

 I'm worried about the insurance company dropping us. You know, because this will be the third claim that I would put in just for air conditioning units,  Jones said.

Jones said he, the trustees

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