NORTH PORT -- The Rev. Pat Organ was tired Tuesday morning. The police woke him up at about 1 a.m. to tell him that his church had been broken into, again.

Two churches in North Port are going into the busy holiday season while coping with a string of three break-ins, two at San Pedro Catholic Church, where Organ is a priest, and one at the nearby Church of the Lutheran Confession.

"It's taking it out of the mouths of the needy," said Organ as he walked through the church.

He pointed out the broken door frames left behind by thieves, whose property damage heavily outweighed the $10 or so in votive candle money and "poor box" donations taken from the church Monday night.

"You kind of feel violated," Organ said. "And you would think there would be some respect for a place of worship."

This is the second break-in at San Pedro since Thanksgiving.

On Saturday, the Church of the Lutheran Confession reported that it, too, had been robbed of $10 worth of wine, a $75 slide projector and some coins.

The burglars, meanwhile, did an estimated $300 in damage to doors and windows.

North Port police believe the three crimes are related and are investigating.

San Pedro, meanwhile, is adjusting to life after the crimes.

The little votive candle donation boxes, for example, will be cleared out daily.

Before the break-ins, the church did not even bother to lock them.

"It was sad," said Yvette Boire, 72, who has been going to San Pedro for the past four years. "You know, even this morning I was so distraught."

Boire was at the church in the aftermath of the first break-in. She saw the mess left behind and the police tape.

The thief or thieves made off with a cash box containing $100.

North Port police are looking for matches to fingerprints found at the scene, and investigations into all three break-ins are ongoing.

The Rev. Paul Larsen, pastor of Church of the Lutheran Confession, did not even want to talk about his church's break-in.

The Lutheran church with a few dozen members is dwarfed by San Pedro, which has about 2,400 families.

"I guess those are the times we live in, unfortunately," Organ said.

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