B.C. Cancer Foundation break-ins leave staff shaken

Two break-ins at the B.C. Cancer Foundation over the holidays haveleft staff feeling shaken.

The organization's office on West Broadway in Vancouver was first targeted on New Year's Eve. Then, when staff returnedafter the holidays, they discovered they had been broken into again sometime over theweekend.

"To come into a cancer foundation, the largestfunderof cancer research in the provincewe were in disbelief," said ErikDierks, the foundation's vice-president of development.

The thief, orthieves, smashed windows andstolecomputers, hard drives, a television, even a bag of coffee beans and some loose change.

But for Dierks, one of the biggest losses was a personal item the bike he rode in the Ride to Conquer Cancerfor the past two years.

The bicycle fundraiser has about 2,000 participants that ridebetween Vancouver and Seattle, and Dierks said it has raised over $70 million in the last seven years.

"To take the bike from someone, one of those 2,000 people, I really can't understand why that would happen," saidDierks.

Vancouver Police said they have gathered some video from the building and hope to identifya suspect soon.

The foundation said it plans to install cameras in its office and hasbrought in a security guard.