AUBURN – A local jewelry store lost about $5,000 worth of diamond jewelry in a bizarre heist Saturday evening.

An employee of Day’s Fine Jewelers at Shaw’s Plaza noticed at about 7 p.m. that someone had removed the plate glass from one of its showcase windows and stole everything inside.

The store was open at the time of the incident, and police believe the thieves removed the glass and emptied the window as customers walked in and out of the store.

The same employee who discovered the missing jewelry had gone to the showcase to remove a piece of jewelry at 6:30 p.m., and nothing was missing.

She first realized that something was wrong when she went back at 7 to replace the jewelry and felt a breeze. She looked down and noticed that everything was gone.

The glass window had been placed on the ground.

The showcase windows have alarms, said store manager Tricia Goulet, but they are not activated when the store is open.

Police said that Shaw’s supermarket has surveillance cameras that pan the plaza, located next to the Auburn Mall, 24 hours a day. It is unknown whether the cameras were focused on the jewelry store at the time of the heist.

Goulet hadn’t tallied the exact total of the missing items, but she estimated that the diamond necklaces, pendants, rings and bracelets were worth $5,000 or more.

The other showcase windows, featuring displays of pearls, gold and silver, were untouched.

Auburn police arrived at the scene at 7 p.m. and interviewed a couple of customers who were in the store. Both customers said they didn’t notice anything when they were walking in.

Police are hoping that someone may have seen the thieves but didn’t say anything because they assumed the thieves were employees of the store or workers from a glass company.

Anyone with information is encouraged to phone the Auburn Police Department at 784-7332.

lchmelecki@sunjournal