More Computer Equipment Stolen From UCI : Thefts: Two offices are stripped of Apple Macintoshes in the latest in a rash of campus break-ins.

UC Irvine officials have lost another battle in their ongoing war against computer thieves, as more than $9,000 worth of sophisticated equipment was stolen over the weekend from campus offices, authorities said Monday.

Despite efforts to stem the recent rash of computer thefts, which has cost the university nearly $110,000 in the last six months, police reported Monday that two more offices were stripped of what has been the thieves’ favorite target: Apple Macintosh computers.

“It’s like being burglarized at home,” said Myron Simon, acting director of Teacher Education, who lost about a month’s worth of data stored in one of the stolen computers. “I came in this morning and I knew there was trouble. . . . Everybody was pretty distressed about it.”

More than 20 break-ins have occurred since last spring when police cracked a major student burglary ring that stole $120,000 worth of equipment. Police do not believe the recent thefts are connected to that ring.

Police said two Macintosh computer units and keyboards were stolen from the third floor of the Administration Building’s office of academic personnel affairs, and another unit and keyboard was taken from the fourth floor of the Social Sciences Tower’s office of teacher education. The thefts occurred sometime between Friday night and Monday morning.

Both break-ins showed signs of forced entry, unlike previous thefts where it appeared that burglars had keys to the offices.

Personal-computer thefts have become such a problem at the university that seminars were held last month to instruct faculty members on how to prevent such crimes.

“It’s a terrible situation,” said Colleen Bentley-Adler, a UCI spokeswoman. “We’ve had a lot of equipment stolen since July.”

As a result, more computers are locked to desks and engraved with identifying marks. The equipment stolen this weekend was engraved as UCI property, police said.

Nonetheless, some faculty members say the precautions can do only so much good.

“A lot of these buildings (and laboratories) are open late into the night,” Simon said. “It’s quite possible that people can slip in without attracting much attention.”

It was the second time this year that computers were taken from the teacher education office. After the first theft, Simon said that he had the computers attached to desks with locks. However, the computer stolen over the weekend was fairly new and a desk lock was still on order.

“Luckily it was insured and will be replaced, but my premiums are going to go up and I’m not happy about that,” Simon said. Several faculty office keys were also missing, Simon said, meaning that the locks will have to be changed. The locks will be fortified with steel plates to make it more difficult to forcibly enter the office, Simon said.

“Little by little, we are closing the loopholes and making it harder for these thefts to occur,” Simon said. Last April, police arrested four student burglars who stole $120,000 worth of equipment over 14 months. The students used master keys and underground utility tunnels that link campus buildings to carry out their crimes.

The students were sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to make restitution for all unrecovered equipment. They were also ordered to serve 500 hours of community service and were expelled from the university.