First-years in three Matthews Hall suites awoke yesterday morning to find that their common rooms had been burglarized while they were sleeping.

The burglar--who police believe is neither a student nor a professional--took mostly wallets and cash, skipping over more valuable items.

According to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), the burglar entered the unlocked suites on the fourth and fifth floors of the dorm early in the morning and rifled through belongings.

The victims discovered they had been robbed when they stumbled on the crook's path.

Geoffrey M. Stevens '03 found his Yankees hat in the trash in the fifth floor bathroom when he got up this morning.

"We thought maybe it was a drunken Red Sox fan," Stevens' roommate Matt D. Gibson '03 said.

Only later, when Stevens looked for his student ID, did he notice that his wallet was missing.

He returned to the bathroom, and found his wallet--minus his ATM card and $20 cash. Stevens also found Gibson's backpack and an unidentified pair of brand new unlaced women's sneakers in the trash.

"We thought it was weird," Stevens said.

The bathrooms in Matthews can only be opened with a key, but students broke the fifth floor lock intentionally early in the semester.

"It was a matter of convenience," one resident said.

The suite doors, however, do not lock automatically. The members of two burglarized suites said they did not even know their doors were unlocked.

"I don't know why we didn't lock our door last night. We always do," Berkow said.

While larcenies are frequent on Harvard's campus, HUPD officials said that yesterday's incident was uncommon.

HUPD Officer Robert K. Reyes said that nothing "of this caliber" has happened recently.