Copper pipe and coil stolen from the heating and air conditioning units of the Lansdowne Library and Lansdowne-Baltimore Highlands Senior Center left both buildings warmer than usual Wednesday.
The library opened its front doors and had several fans circulating air inside after the building's two rooftop HVAC units were stripped of their copper coils.
Det. Cathy Batton, spokeswoman for Baltimore County police, said the library was robbed between 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19 and 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20.
Bob Hughes, a spokesman for the Baltimore Public Library System, said the theft was not discovered the theft until Tuesday around noon when the library began getting stuffy.
The rooftop HVAC units are not visible from the ground, Hughes noted.
The police were called at 4:43 p.m. Tuesday.
The senior center reported as similar theft at 11:38 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21, after noticing the air conditioning wasn't working, Batton said.
Batton said the time of the theft of the copper at the center, which is next door to the library on Third Avenue in Lansdowne, could only be narrowed down to between 4 p.m. Sept. 16 and 11 a.m. on Sept. 21.
She said the police have no information about the robbers and do not know if the thefts were related.
The library system, Hughes said, is looking into repairing the HVAC units, but replacing them seems likelier.
"The units were probably damaged beyond the point of repair," he said. "We don't have a cost estimate yet, but whatever the cost is will have to come from the capital maintenance budget."
Just after 1 p.m. Wednesday, a dozen people were in the library.
"It's tolerable," said Cindy Swanson Farmarco, manager of the library at 500 Third Ave. "It's nice out so nobody has complained at all."
The need for air conditioning has been minimal as temperatures mainly hovered in the 70s.
The senior center didn't resort to fans or leaving its front doors open.
"It's really not too bad in here," said Joyce Rosewag, supervisor of the senior center at 424 Third Ave. "Being overcast, I guess helps keep the heat down."
Rosewag said a building maintenance crew examined the unit on Wednesday.
A timetable for its repair is uncertain Rosewag said.