The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department is searching for those responsible for stealing an estimated $25,000 worth of equipment from the Dallas County Sportsplex early Thursday morning.

Between the hours of 2.30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., Sgt. Mike Granthum said several individuals cut a large hole in the fence surrounding the Sportsplex and broke in to the concession stand and equipment shed.

An ATV valued at $9,000 was stolen along with $100 in cash, two weed eaters, a backpack blower and three gallons of gas.

“The worst part is they tried to set the building on fire by setting a gas can on fire,” Granthum said. “They had a fire extinguisher in the concession stand area and just sprayed dried chemical throughout the place — just completely vandalized it.”

There are currently no suspects in the case, but Granthum said several items have been sent to the lab to check against the DNA database and fingerprints lifted from the scene have also been sent off for analysis.

Once these individuals are identified, Granthum said they would face charges for third-degree burglary and first-degree theft of property.

“We think these people are from Selma and knew the Sportsplex because they had to know where the stuff was,” he said. “They had a plan and knew exactly what they were doing.”

Sportsplex director Elton Reece said although this act of vandalism and theft will set the program back in some aspects, he still plans on hosting baseball games at the Sportsplex.

“We’re just going to have to work around it,” Reece said. “It won’t slow us down, we’re going right on.”

Reece said the Sportsplex has an alarm system but it was either disabled or broken during the crime and said his first priority is to repair the fence and replace the window that was broken into to access the concession stand.

“This is just terrible for the kids,” Granthum said. “They should be putting this money towards new equipment — not replacing stolen items.”