KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Burglars broke into a building that was to become a senior center at the Stranger's Rest Baptist Church on North Fifth Street at Stewart Avenue.

It was the second burglary at the church in eight months.

They broke windows, wrote graffiti and stole scrap parts, mostly copper. They caused thousands of dollars worth of damage.

"That's what they want, the copper. That's what they steal," said Newton Hall, a church trustee who reported the burglary to police Tuesday.

The burglars broke in through an upper-level window and ransacked air conditioners inside and on the roof. They got away by busting through a back door at the church.

Parishioners were trying to get the building ready for a grand opening.

"They just make it hard on us," Hall said.

He blamed desperation and what he called "just plain ignorance."