NORTH BEND - They've stolen air compressors. Nail guns. Drills. And saws.

They sneak in at night and on weekends, onto construction sites around the area and haul off contractors' tools. A single hit can cost a builder thousands of dollars in lost equipment.

On the night of Jan. 3, thieves went onto a Leavitt and Davidson Builders' job site. They made off with a stepside van full of tools.

“They took the whole trailer. There was nothing left,” said business co-owner Laurie Leavitt.

Her company lost an estimated $12,000 in tools - a big hit for a small business supporting two owners and four employees. Leavitt's company isn't the only that's suffered. Daniel Abel of AD Construction and Remodeling lost tools off a job site just a week ago.

“That wasn't the first time. There was another incident a month and half earlier,” he said.

The rash of thefts over the last few months has left local builders frustrated. In this area, Abel estimated contractors have lost as much as $50,000 in tools alone.

“These are people that are our neighbors and small businesses in the area. When they have a theft of $10,000 or $12,000 in tools, that really hurts their livelihood,” said Kim Lehmann, executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Southwestern Oregon.

Lehmann said home builder associations elsewhere in the state have reported similar crimes. They are all cooperating to warn their members and others to notify police if someone tries to sell them used tools, particularly at prices way under value.

Still, local builders are grinding teeth on several issues. They are wondering how thieves are finding the sites, especially remote housing projects. They want to know if neighbors have noticed people snooping around job sites, and if so, why they haven't called police.

“I realize the police can't do a whole lot, but I am getting a little irate that there isn't more communication going on,” Abel said.

Police departments are saying little about investigations into the burglaries.

“There's been an increasing number of construction theft and metal theft that seems to be tied together,” said North Bend Detective Milo Arnesen.

On Monday, Bandon Police officers, who were staking out the Bandon Electric Department yard, arrested two men leaving the yard through a hole in the fence. They had armloads of used wire. But Arnesen doesn't think that will be the end of the problems. There likely is more than one group of thieves out there.

“I would definitely encourage people to report instances. The more reports we get the more we can compile the data we receive,” he said.

Arnesen stopped short of saying his department is investigating the crimes. Coos County Sheriff's Sgt. Rod Summers said Friday he had heard little about the thefts. At Coos Bay Police Department last week, Detective Rob Scoville referred calls to his coworker, Sgt. Hugo Hatzel. He sent out a generic press release Friday that his department is investigating an increase in property crimes at homes, construction sites, businesses, vehicles and mailboxes. It then offered 13 tips on protecting one's home and cars from break-ins.

Leavitt said her company began its own police work earlier this month. She contacted pawn shops from Eugene to Portland looking for the tools.

“Within an hour, we got a phone call from a place in Portland that had some of our nail guns,” she said.

Leavitt and Lehmann are hoping that, by speaking up, people in the community will help solve these crimes.

“People just need to be aware this is going on. Maybe everybody will start watching out and see what's going on at night,” Leavitt said.

And if neighbors notice anyone suspicious at businesses and job sites, they should notify police.

- Kim Lehmann can be reached at the Home Builders Association by calling 297-3319. Also, Coos Stop Crime offers rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects involved in local crimes. There's a 24-hour line at (800) 368-6425 or 267-6666 where people can report the information anonymously. The rewards are funded by private donations.