Poor boxes broken into at St. Anthony’s Church

Three poor boxes containing donations at Saint Anthony’s Church in Oceanside were found pried open on Monday, according to Nassau County police. Detectives are looking for the person responsible.

The church’s facilities director discovered two boxes with broken covers upon opening the church — located at 110 Anchor Avenue — at 7 a.m., police said. At about 3 p.m., a parishioner brought to the church another damaged collection box, which was found at Silver Lake Park on Foxhurst Road in Baldwin. That box had been last seen by church staff just a few hours prior, according to police.

Deacon John O’Connor said the boxes are normally emptied once a day. He added that though it is difficult to estimate exactly how much money was taken, he guessed that the damage to the boxes and stolen funds exceeded a value of $500.

“I’ve had a few parishioners come in already and give us a donation toward what we lost,” O’Connor said, “which is very generous.”

O’Connor said Saint Anthony’s itself was not broken into, and guessed that the money was stolen on Sunday while the church was open. He added that the church was most likely empty when it happened and that there was no threat to any parishioner or employee.

Though such a crime is not a normal occurrence for the church, according to O’Connor, he acknowledged it is a common problem for places of worship everywhere.

“It’s a church, and we like to give the opportunity for our parishioners to come in anytime they want during the course of the day and pray,” O’Connor said. “So, we take the risk of something like this possibly happening.”

Following the incident, O’Connor said Saint Anthony’s — which is open from about 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day — will temporarily be locked after its daily noon mass. Detectives ask anyone with information on these crimes to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.