BATH — Law-enforcement officers are looking for suspects who bore a hole in the wall at the Bath General Store Wednesday night, making off with a small amount of cash, according to Maj. Kenneth Watson, spokesman for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

The crime took place just before midnight Wednesday at the store on Carteret Street. The culprits bore a hole in the store’s exterior metal siding, and damaged a cash register and a safe, Watson said. Law enforcement is asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspects who were caught on the store’s video surveillance before they disabled the cameras.

Watson said the fact the suspects cut through the wall at an approximately 2-foot-wide space between refrigerated cases along the store’s side wall indicates the suspects had been there before and knew exactly where to enter.

“We would say that they had been in the store and we would encourage anyone who operates a business to pay attention to new customers that are unfamiliar to them and appear to be examining the location or asking questions,” Watson said.

Crimes of this type have been plaguing businesses in Pitt County throughout the year. Watson said the local sheriff’s office is working with the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office.

“We believe the crimes are related,” Watson said.

It may not be the first time the thieves have hit Bath businesses, either. On the night of June 21, again before midnight, the Whitepost store at the corner of Whitepost Road and N.C. Highway 92 was also broken into. While an air conditioning unit was removed in order for the robbers to gain entrance, the crimes are of similar enough nature the sheriff’s office believes the same suspects are involved.

Watson said the sheriff’s office have released still images in hopes that someone will come forward with information or can identify the suspects in the security camera images.

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information about the crime to contact Beaufort County Crime Stoppers by phone, text or through their website. Tipsters can call 252-974-6400 give information; text a tip anonymously by dialing 274637 on a cellphone and in the body of the message, type BCSO131 and the tip; or submit a tip through the Crime Stoppers website, www.beaufortcountycrimestoppers.com, by following the “Tip Line” link and filling out an online form. Calls, texts and emails are anonymous. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest in this case. Tipsters do not have to give their name to receive a reward.