FREEDOM — The small town of Freedom in Carroll County is reeling from a pair of outsized burglaries last week that, combined, may have netted thieves more than $75,000 in tools and equipment from a longtime family construction firm and a New Hampshire state highway garage.

Freedom Police Chief Josh Shackford said the break-ins occurred overnight Wednesday and possibly into the early morning hours Thursday. He said hours of time may have been needed to haul the stolen goods away, and the list was a long one.

“Eight power saws, aluminum dump-truck wheels, about a 100 pounds of chain, socket sets, wrenches, welding supplies; they know what they were looking for. They even took hand soap and a set of moose antlers from an office. If it's not bolted down, it's gone,” Shackford said.

The most valuable single item lost was a GPS “total station,” a sophisticated satellite-based navigation surveying system worth $20,000 that was stolen from G.W. Brooks & Son on Route 153.

Brooks — which will celebrate 50 years in business next year — is a contracting firm that offers a variety of services such as residential construction and site work, including excavation.

Most of the stolen items are important to the business, and with all the equipment it lost overnight, the company came close to not being able to perform any work by Thursday, according to Scott Brooks, son of company owner George Brooks.

“Not quite, but they got our mechanic's tools, welding torches, two laser levels. That made it pretty tough. You're getting close to $70,000 there, and they hit the state highway garage a quarter-mile from us; it's almost within sight of our place,” Brooks said.

The haul at the state garage included several chainsaws, said Shackford. His police force has three full-time officers and five part-timers who have been working extensively on the burglaries since they were discovered Thursday morning, including being on the lookout for any attempts to sell the stolen goods.

“We're working on every little thing we've got,” in connection with crimes, which he said could be related to the disappearance of some $3,000 in scrap metal in another burglary in nearby Effingham at about the same time.

bhookway@newstote.com