A Lawrence church is tightening security as it copes with a series of unsolved break-ins and thefts.

“I think it’s a sad commentary, because you want to be open to minister to people,” said the Rev. Leo Barbee Jr., pastor of Victory Bible Church, 1942 Mass.

In early July, congregation members filed a police report after discovering an unknown amount of money missing from a wooden donation box inside the church. They also set up a tiny surveillance camera with help from church member Robert Woodard, who works in security.

When two VCRs and two televisions came up missing shortly afterward, they reviewed the tape and saw they’d caught a suspect on camera. At one point, the footage appears to show the person carrying a television.

The image was grainy, but the Lawrence Police Department often enhances businesses’ surveillance tapes using computers.

Woodard and Barbee said they tried to get police to review the tape but that they didn’t respond. However, Sgt. Mike Pattrick, a Lawrence Police Department spokesman, said he thought police had been told the church’s surveillance tapes didn’t show anything — and he said officers still would be interested in viewing the tape if it showed a suspect.

Church members say they are confident the thief will be caught. In the meantime, they’re keeping church lights on at night and taking steps to make sure the locks on the exterior doors can’t be picked.

¢ 6News video: Church thefts are still unsolved

Two other churches reported thefts of donations last month during break-ins: Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave., and Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2104 W. 15th St.

“There’s a special place for that kind of person that’s going to steal from God,” Woodard said. “It’s just something you don’t do.”