Cops: Crooks steal AC unit from church

A church is searching for new ways to protect their new air conditioning unit after police say someone stole their old one last week.

The shell of the old air conditioning unit is still mounted in concrete at the Trumpet in Zion Fellowship, but it wasn't strong enough to prevent a criminal from stealing its components.

Police said they believe someone stripped down the parts last week.

"It was a fairly new unit," said Faith Cozart of Trumpet in Zion Fellowship. "It was about two years old, so maybe it looked appealing to them. I don't know."

Without better protection, Channel 4 crime analyst Ken Jefferson believes AC units are easy targets.

"There's a lot of money to be made with people stealing these air conditioning units," said Jefferson. "They are taking advantage of it because of a lot of them are unsecure."

Jefferson recommends casing air conditioning units completely to make sure they aren't pulled apart.

"What you've got to remember is the way you protect yourself from thieves, or at least give them a deterrent," said Jefferson. "You've got to have a cage of some sort that goes around the unit completely that you lock."

The church said they will be using this advice from now on.

"We'll try this and I'm sure it's going to make it harder for them to get in next time," said Cozart.