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Series of Thefts, Acts of Vandalism Hit Greenough

First-Year Robbed of $450 in Property

A first-year was robbed early Thursday morning of about $450 worth of personal items in the latest in a series of thefts and acts of vandalism in Greenough Hall which began Feb. 13.

T. Timothy Wang '00 said a watch, a Walkman and an electronic organizer were stolen from his room at about 1 a.m. on Thursday when Wang went across the hall to visit a friend, leaving his door unlocked.

"I was gone for maybe 10 minutes," he said.

In a separate incident that evening, Dearblha S. McHenry '00 had a Walkman stolen from the Greenough common room. A cassette tape that was in it had been tossed into a bowl of water, according to Greenough proctor Jeanne Y.Evans.

The thefts came on the heels of a Feb. 13 incident in which vandals stole McHenry's wallet from the Greenough common room and vandalized the first-year dormitory's kitchen, Evans said.

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The Harvard Police are investigating the incidents. However, the detective assigned to the case could not be reached for comment over the weekend.

It is unclear at this point whether any of the thefts or acts of vandalism are related.

Last week, Evans warned students in Greenough to lock their doors and to ask strangers who attempt to gain admission to the dormitory for an ID.

Evans said she believes that the easy street access to the doors of Greenough might make it an appealing target for thieves.

Wang said he had not heeded that advice previously.

"I sometimes leave my door unlocked when I know I'm going to be on the floor, because I figure I'd be able to hear if someone were there," Wang said.

Last Thursday, when he returned to his room, Wang said he didn't see anything out of the ordinary until he tried to use his computer.

Wang noticed that someone had disconnected the cables connecting the laptop to his printer and power source, and had closed the screen.

But since his laptop was clamped to the desk, the thief could not have stolen the whole unit, said Wang, who is a Crimson editor.

Although Wang told the police that nothing else had been stolen, he noticed later that morning that his watch, worth about $250, was missing.

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