NATCHEZ — When Tim McCann went to get in his truck Tuesday morning he noticed a few things missing — a few things worth approximately $2,600.

McCann had loaded a $2,000 Briggs and Stratton generator into the back of his truck Monday night in order to return it to the health department, but it was stolen during the night.

“I had it loaded up to take it back to storage and I backed my truck up into my carport,” McCann said. “They dropped the tail gate, cut the cord and took the generator.”

The generator weighed around 400 pounds, he said.

They also stole a socket set valued at $600, he said.

McCann is not worried about the monetary loss because his homeowners insurance will cover the cost, but he said the burglary was very unnerving.

“That night we were on pins and needles,” McCann said. “Every time you’d hear something outside you’d go outside and look.”

McCann’s neighbor, Brian Burgess, also had his generator stolen Tuesday night and suspects that the thieves plan on selling the stolen generators.

“Apparently they didn’t take it to carry to the house to use it, because what would they need three of four for,” Burgess said. “We just paid $800 for it and somebody’s going to get about $200 for it.”

Burgess and McCann were not the only people to have generator stolen after the hurricane. Stein Lumber Company has sold approximately 800 generators since Hurricane Gustav, and many people simply store them in an open carport, Adams County Sheriff Ronny Brown said.

“You leave it sitting under your carport or in the back of your truck and you’re just asking for it to get stolen,” Brown said. “Those things are hot right now.”

Brown was initially worried about copper theft, but thanks to a new Mississippi law that makes it more difficult to sell, that was not problem.

Instead, people have been stealing generators, which may cost up to $2,000 as in McCann’s case, and selling them for as little as $200 to $300.

“If a man comes by and offers to sell you a generator for $200 and you know it cost $800 (it’s most likely stolen),” Brown said.

And while the sheriff’s office is working to stop the theft, much of the responsibility lies with homeowners.

“Right now it’s just a rash of burglaries and the public needs to help us out a little,” Brown said. “You just have to protect your property. Don’t just lay it out by the carport for people to steal it.”

It is important for people to report suspicious activities to the neighborhood watch organizations and to the police, he said.

Natchez Police Sgt. Craig Godbold also said it is important to have identifying marks on a generator and to record the serial number. But it’s just as important to prevent a generator from being stolen.

“If you have one of the big generators with wheels on them, take the wheels off,” Godbold said. “Don’t make it easy for them to take.”

McCann said he has learned his lesson.

“There’s probably 50 percent of the people here in Natchez that don’t chain them up,” McCann said. “They just put them under their carports, plug them in and run electricity. But I know I won’t next time.”