T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — The VFW Post 839 Hall at 107 E. Meadow Ln. was burglarized late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, and the Marshalltown Police Department is investigating the incident. According to multiple post officials, the thieves, who have not yet been identified or arrested, stole a safe holding about $1,000 in cash, $450 in undeposited checks, extra keys and important papers including the deed to the building.

The Marshalltown Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 839 Hall on East Meadow Lane was burglarized earlier this week, and the Marshalltown Police Department (MPD) is looking for suspects as part of an ongoing investigation.

According to Post 839 Quartermaster Roger Dirks, the as-yet-unidentified thieves gained entry by smashing in the back door of the building, and both his office and that of Post Commander Larry Tuttle were broken into sometime either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

Dirks said the safe was holding “around $1,000” in cash, $450 worth of undeposited checks, extra keys and important papers including the deed to the building.

“Those things hurt,” he said.

Post Adjutant Mike Long expressed a similar sense of frustration with the situation.

“We’re having a hard time (and) struggling anyway. It hurts,” he said.

Thankfully, none of the Marshalltown Combined Honor Guard rifles were stolen. Dirks believes the criminals were simply looking for cash, and while Post leadership would love to offer a reward for information leading to an arrest, Dirks didn’t feel it would be feasible to do so considering the current financial state of the organization.

“Our money situation is negligible, and we wouldn’t have any money to pay,” he said. “Basically, our only income that we get, or one of the few ways that we get money, is having fish fries and tenderloin meals, which is kind of a struggle. We only have, like, four or five a year, and that’s as many as we can get enough people to help with us.”

Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper confirmed that a burglary was reported early Tuesday morning with “entry forced through a door and property taken,” but no one has been arrested yet.

“We’re just hoping that we can get something (and) someone can come forward with information. Unfortunately we can’t pay a reward of any kind, but if someone’s willing to help us out, we’d appreciate it,” Dirks said.