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A break-in at a United Methodist church in Hagerstown has area police scratching their heads and church members intent on focusing on the joy of the season.

Following a Scout meeting on Monday evening, Dec. 5, someone illegally entered Grace United Methodist Church in Hagerstown, cut phone and alarm lines, broke a few drawers looking for cash and stole a kitchen cart and presents collected for local school children, reported the pastor, the Rev. Clark Carr.

Carr and other church leaders are checking with security officials to find out why there may have been a lapse in the security system,. The cutting of the lines should have resulted in the fail-safe measure of notifying local police.

However, when the police did respond, they were able to pursue some leads and found the kitchen cart and a few of the Angel Tree gifts.

This is not the first such break-in. Other churches in the area, including Washington Square UMC in Hagerstown, have experienced similar incidents.

"It's a mystery," said Carr, who noted that when people in the community heard about the loss of gifts for needy students at two elementary schools, they sent presents to replace them.

Carr said he can't imagine what would cause people to steal from the church in this way. "It is our prayer that God's spirit will move upon them and melt their hearts that they might be able to find the grace we know in Jesus Christ," he said. "We have the joy of the season in Jesus Christ. No one can take that away from us. We perpetuate the joy regardless of the season."