Barefoot bandit breaks into Lauderdale-By-The-Sea church, snatches iPad and stuffs toilet; congregation left puzzled

Church volunteers are left puzzled after a barefoot bandit busted into the house of worship to snatch odds and ends and clog the toilet.

Surveillance video from the Community Church of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea shows a man wearing a tank top and bathing suit bust his way inside, pulling a cart behind him, Sunday afternoon.

“It’s just a case of opportunity. I assume,” said Barbara Lane, a volunteer for the church. “It looked like it was a chair and beach umbrella.”

Instead of searching for salvation, the man appears to spend several minutes inside the church’s bathroom, appearing to drop something inside his cart.

Moments later, he seems to be checking out the church’s food pantry donation box before turning his attention to the audio-visual booth and spotting the church’s iPad.

“[He] put it in his car and just left,” said Lane.

Church volunteers later discovered one of the toilets had been stuffed with paper towels.

“You never know what’s going through somebody’s mind,” said Lane “Somebody may have had a bad experience with a church and just feels anger toward them. I don’t know, this place is all love.”

The bizarre incident has left members of the church’s congregation saddened and confused.

“We all do things we aren’t proud of,” said Lane.

They also hold out hope for the thief to see the error in his ways and do the correct thing in returning the iPad and confessing to his actions.

“We just send him love and forgiveness,” said Lane. “That’s the beauty of it. God forgives us.”

Members also said they have reported the incident to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.