A thief or perhaps more than one broke into St. Francis Xavier Church and stole an undetermined amount of cash and unopened envelopes containing checks.

The back door of the church’s rectory had been kicked in while Father Bill Scully was performing the 8 p.m. Mass on Christmas Eve.

Along with money collected from a Mass earlier in the day, the intruder stole several hundred dollars in coins, several watches and a lamp.

As of December 31, 2012, Skully said that carpenters were at the church repairing the damage.

State police said they were investigating a lead in the case, but could not be more specific.

This was the second time in 2012 a church in the hamlet was hit. In the early morning hours of September 20, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was broken into. Thieves left the church office in disarray and made their way into a locked room where valuable communion ware was stored.