Police around the metro are asking for help catching some coin-loving criminals.
In recent months, nearly 30 car washes and laundromats have been targets for coin theft. Police believe the crimes may be related.
More than 20 police departments in the metro met Friday to discuss the problem.
"It damages a lot of property for very little money. There's no sense in it," Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Dan Green said.
Officials said that in many of the cases, the burglar used a sledgehammer to break open a 24-hour change machine.
"They came in, took a sledgehammer and popped out the whole wall. They pulled all the guts out of the wall," car wash owner Jennifer Schwalm told KMBC's Dion Lim.
Businesses often suffer thousands of dollars in damages, but the crooks make off with only a few quarters.
"This wall vault is emptied at night, which is what it says on these signs, 'No money,' but it didn't stop them from doing damage," Schwalm said.
In one case, a thief did $20,000 in damage and got away with only 75 cents.
In all, Schwalm's business suffered more than $40,000 in damages.
"The problem is that these are family-owned businesses, and not only is there damage to report, but you hope you don't get dropped by your insurance. There's also the lack of family funds, because this is our business," she said.
Anyone with information in the case can call the Crime Stoppers TIPS hot line at 816-474-TIPS.
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