Thousands of dollars in equipment were stolen over the weekend from the Isenberg School of Management building, including laptops containing professors’ data needed for courses in session.

“There have been a number of thefts this semester,” said SOM Dean Dennis Hanno. “Laptops were stolen this week and an overhead was stolen a few weeks ago.”

The theft will undoubtedly cause problems in the classes of those professors involved. Dean Hanno said that five to six professors lost data that was stored in their laptops. Most of the professors will be able to recover some of the data, but not all of it.

The University of Massachusetts Police Department is currently investigating the incident and Dean Hanno said that the department has recovered fingerprints. According to Hanno, there are no suspects at this time. He was confident that the guilty parties will be found.

Dinning commons and dorms have experienced robbery as well. In April and in February, two separate thefts claimed thousands of dollars worth of lab equipment was from the Morrill Science Center and another campus location. Arrests were made in both cases and UMPD is hoping the evidence left at the scene of the SOM theft will help it out.

Dean Hanno has met with faculty to discuss how to prevent future theft from happening. Hanno said he’s looking for changes in procedure and an increase in vigilance so faculty won’t lose any more of their laptops and data.

With a possible new security system being installed on campus, the UMPD and UMass staff hope to prevent costly thefts from occurring in the future.

-Reid Davenport