Officers with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office are urging lakeside residents to report any suspicious activity in their neighborhoods after a number of burglaries along Diamond and Indian Lakes.

According to authorities, a string of break-ins occurred over the last two weeks during the early morning hours, from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. The sheriff’s office believes that the homes being targeted are currently unoccupied, said Capt. Lyndon Parrish.

“Since the snow started melting, we’ve been seeing an increase in break-ins of seasonal homes,” Parrish said. “It’s easy to for thieves to see which homes are occupied, as they can see which homes have driveways that have been snowplowed.”

On Indian Lake, a number of homeowners have reported stolen property taken from their residents as a result of the break-ins, Parrish said. On Diamond Lake, there have been a number of attempted burglaries, but thieves have been scared off by alarm systems before they could take any property. Police said there have been about a half-dozen attempts or successful robberies on each lake.

The sheriff’s office is still determining whether the break-ins are the handiwork of a single thief or a team of burglars, as they currently lack information on either a suspect or vehicle involved, Parrish said. Authorities believe that, despite the distance between the two lakes, the same suspect or suspects are involved in both, due to the similar time frame and focus on unoccupied homes, the captain said.

“We’re operating under the assumption that they are related until we have information that says otherwise,” Parrish said.

While break-ins of seasonal homes are a recurring problem in Cass County, the frequency of these dozen or so incidents is unusual, Parrish said.

Owners of unoccupied lakeside property should make sure that any alarm systems are in working order, and should ask any neighbors to keep a lookout, Parrish said.

“If you’re living in the area, make sure you report anything suspicious,” he said.

People with information about suspicious vehicles or activity should call the sheriff’s office non-emergency line at (269) 445-1560.