INUVIK - Police are investigating four town break and enters that happened last week.

The suspects so far are almost entirely youths under the age of 17.

Thieves smashed a window in the entrance of Index clothing store on Mackenzie Road early Tuesday morning, Aug. 11. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

"They are all youths except for a couple who are in the 18 to 20 year old range," said Staff Sgt. Cliff McKay of the Inuvik RCMP.

During early Tuesday morning, Aug. 11, three Inuvik buildings were broken into, including town hall on Firth Road, Index clothing store on Mackenzie Road and the RCMP storage unit on Distributor Street. The Royal Canadian Legion on Distributor Street was hit early Friday morning.

McKay said charges are pending in that case. As for the other unidentified number of suspects, he said evidence is still being collected as the investigations are ongoing.

"We don't have anything to support charges at this point, so we're still working on that, towards that goal," he said.

At town hall, thieves pried upon a door to get inside the building and tried unsuccessfully to pound their way through a 500 pound office safe, damaging it in the process. An iPod was stolen and several areas of the building were vandalized.

At Index, a pane of glass on the outside entrance was smashed, a Plexiglas covering on the inside door was removed and a few items were stolen.

At the RCMP storage facility, Const. Noella Cockney said the door was damaged where the thieves gained access to the building, but she said nothing was stolen.

McKay said during the early morning hours there's always at least two police officers on patrol.

Mayor Derek Lindsay said Tuesday's break-ins weren't anything out of the ordinary for this time of year.

He said the particularly dark skies that night might have encouraged the break and enters.

"I am as concerned as I always am with these break-ins," he said. "We don't want the damn things."