TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. — Imagine spending your whole life collecting antiques, just to have it all stolen in one night.
That's what happened in Tonawanda, where a burglar broke into an estate sale and stole an entire collection of artifacts from the Pan-American Exposition.
Officials from the sale say a whole table was cleared of items worth $1,600.
"Whoever did it knew what they were doing. They knew how to get into a house," Joseph Atti of Sweet & Company Estate Sales told 2 On your Side. "The sale has been successful, but I think people ought to be more careful. The world's at a point where people need to be more careful."
Despite the loss, the sellers are not deterred. There will be heightened security until the sale continues next week.
"For the most part, I'll tell you people are nice. People that do this, I have very little trouble with people, but there's always one or two everywhere you go that don't want to wait," Atti said. "Can't understand why they can't just go in, even though there's 100 people waiting to go in."
As for the burglar, we're told that the suspicious activity was caught on security cameras and that the investigation is underway. Anyone with information should contact police.