A Catholic church in San Jose was burglarized of $25,000 in musical instruments on the Fourth of July -- the third time in the last week.
The burglars last struck Wednesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, 2020 East San Antonio St. And the discovery of the missing musical equipment was a devastating loss to the people who attend the church in the heart of East San Jose.
"The sad thing is that the musicians themselves raised the money to buy the instruments," Friar Jon Pedigo said Thursday. "They held champurrado and taco sales after Mass for weeks on end just to buy a guitar or a bass. They had to work extra hard for months on end to raise money for a sound mixer. So you can imagine how this burglary had an impact on the leaders."
The church has several music groups that play weekly for approximately 5,000 parishioners at seven Masses per weekend, according to church officials.
A large variety of musical instruments and equipment that are used during Mass were stolen: Amplifiers, an electric bass, violins, guitars, microphones and mixers among other things, church officials said.
San Jose Police Officer Jose Garcia said three separate burglary reports were filed by the church in the last week: on June 27, July 3 and Wednesday. He would not release details of those reports because he said they were all under investigation.
