Crooks made off with a John Deer tractor, a push lawn mower, two bottles of diesel fuel and a 12 foot trailer from the storage shed behind the First Baptist Church in Crossville.  And it appears the thieves stole the stuff while the groundskeeper was mowing the church’s grass using a third mower.  There was no sign of a break-in, someone just came out of the woods and took the equipment.

“They came in here with a trailer – a car, vehicle or truck or whatever -with a trailer hitch, hooked onto the trailer, loaded up the two mowers and drove out,” said L.T. Thurman, building and grounds chairman for the church.

They estimate the equipment was worth about $10,000.

The church bought a new lock for its storage shed and plans to upgrade its camera system to prevent similar thefts in the future.

The Crossville Police Department is investigating. Officers said right now, there are no suspects