Thieves steal 4 large tents from Cub Scouts in Visalia

VISALIA, Calif. -- Organizers of a Cub Scout camp in Visalia are asking whoever took four of their large tents to return them -- no questions asked.

They say they're out $600 and have less shade space for the camp, which started Monday and goes through Friday.

Take Flight is the theme of this year's summer camp for the Cub Scouts of the Live Oak District.

"It's just a lot of fun, there's archery, there's bb guns, they get to go to the airport," den leader Hope Riley said.

And after spending a few hours in the sun at Mooney Grove Park, they got to watch a 'birds of prey' demonstration under a handful of large tents.

Sometime between late Sunday night and early Monday morning, four other camp tents were stolen.

"I mean it's pretty sad that someone would take from the cub scouts," said Aide Ibarra, a mother of two Cub Scouts that attended the camp.

"So I received a text message and my reaction was, you're kidding right? And I got here and it was actually a lot of tears out of frustration," said Erin Hayden, a district executive for Boy Scouts of America.

Camp leaders and parents were also confused as to why someone would steal, and how they did it.

"The gates are locked, they're very large structures to pick up and carry so somebody had to have been out here disassembling and it takes more than one person. We were all confused trying to figure that out," Hayden said.

Now, she says, they're out $600 and very precious shade in another week of triple digit heat.

"They're a huge part of our camps around the area so anybody knows what happens to them, we'd like to have them back, hopefully unharmed," Hayden said.

Visalia Police are investigating the theft. Anyone with information is asked to call the Visalia Police Department.