Burglars who apparently set out to steal medication stopped to also grab a bunch of Christmas presents in a Locust Grove Road home two weeks ago, according to Putnam Sheriff’s Department.

The homeowner left about 10 a.m. December 20 and returned about 2:30 p.m. and found his home had been burglarized, says a report by Deputy Ron Harris.

“He thinks the subjects entered through the front door,” the report says.

“Once inside, they took approximately 25 Christmas gifts from under the Christmas tree in the living room, then forced their way into the master bedroom.”

In the bedroom, they “went through a filing cabinet, dresser drawers and a medicine cabinet,” the report says.

“They dumped out the medicine onto the bed and took only what appeared to be narcotics or controlled meds. It appeared as if they took a bottle with approximately 170 Lorazapam, some pain patches, approximately 70 Percosets, 120 605-gr. Percosets.”

Most of the medications had been stored in a lock box which also contained 60 silver dollars, the report says.

“The total loss for the lock box, meds, and Christmas gifts was estimated at $331,” Deputy Harris said.

In other recent cases:

* Thieves stole two three foot by eight foot stainless steel hoppers valued at $8,000 out of a lot at the ARC Diversified building on Gould Drive.

It happened sometime between December 15 and 21, says a report by Cookeville Police Officer Luke Ward.

The hoppers weighed about 500 pounds each, the report says.

* Burglars broke into a house on Mine Lick Creek Road sometime between December 15 and 22 and stole a JVC 46-inch TV valued at $900 and miscellaneous jewelry valued at $3,000, says a report by Officer Brandon Tayes.

The thieves broke a window in the basement to gain entry, the report says.

* Thieves backed a truck up to a barn on JD Randolph Road on December 20 and stole 30 pieces of metal shelving valued at $10 each, says a report by Deputy Sonny Farley.

* Burglars kicked in a door at a Shipley Road apartment on December 21, entered, and stole a Samsung 32-inch TV and a Hewlett Packard laptop computer, says a report by Deputy Linda Jordan.

Detectives are investigating all of these and other thefts and burglaries.