A quiet, secluded area behind Saint Peter's Church in Abbeville isn't usually noticed; however, with seven valuable air conditioning units sitting in place, someone disturbed the peace.

"Prices of metal are up and we see an increase in those types of crimes," said Investigator Rick Campbell of the Abbeville-Henry County Task Force.

An Alabama Power employee went to the church for routine inspection last week and saw five units were gone and some rubble was left behind.

Police suspect it took more than one person to steal such a large load.

"We do have some finger prints that we are going to send off to see if we can get some matches made. We have some people of interest, but nothing concrete," added Investigator Campbell.

The units have been replaced so the church can have its regularly scheduled services. However, with the criminals on the loose, there is no telling if they'll be back for more.

"It's one thing for someone to be hungry, but the church will feed you. The church will provide for people. For someone to steal air conditioning units or vandalize a church that says a lot about the individuals making a theft there."

Henry County Deputy sheriff Robert Sewell is a deacon at Saint Peters.

He says he is shocked to see a crime like this committed to a 150 year old church.

"We never had anything like this happen and it is just sad to think someone would do something like that to a church. It has to be someone from this neighborhood. We know it and I wish someone would come forward and just point them out because it's a shame," said Sewell.

Each air conditioning unit costs anywhere from $5000 to $10,000 dollars and the church has to spend more money on top of that in order to fix the internal mechanics of these units.

Insurance is covering most of the cost of the stolen units.

Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call the Abbeville Police Department at 585-2221 or Henry County Crime Stoppers at 585-5200.