Thieves have been targeting heat and air units at churches in DeKalb County, Ala., according to authorities there.
Sheriff Jimmy Harris said deputies since Nov. 2 have investigated "one attempt of theft of property on a church and three churches that have had theft of property."
Harris said all the churches are in rural areas like Geraldine, Crossville and Fyffe.
Harris is asking residents who live near churches to help keep an eye out for thieves and report them to authorities.
"We have also had 37 home burglaries, 17 with a suspect so far, in the past few months," Harris said in a statement. "Local police departments are helping our investigators and deputies every day in these cases. But we would like to ask the citizens of the county to please give us or your local police department a call if you see anything suspicious."
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office can be reached at 256-845-3801.