High school's theater lights stolen

More than $50,000 of lighting equipment was stolen from Newport Harbor High School's theater over winter break, police and school officials said Friday.

The theft occurred some time around New Year's Day inside Robins Hall, the school's former main building that is set to be demolished this summer. Sgt. Evan Sailor of the Newport Beach Police Department said the equipment was worth about $53,000.

Sailor guessed that the perpetrator was a student or former student at Newport Harbor, noting that his department had dealt with break-ins at the school before.

"We usually get a lot of computer thefts from there, and it's usually students or former students," he said.

The intruder broke a door lock to get into the building's basement entrance, Sailor said. The investigation into the case is ongoing, and police do not have any suspects.

Principal Michael Vossen said the loss may not have been major since Robins Hall, which closed in 2003 due to seismic concerns, has quite a bit of outdated equipment. Administrators were still deciding which items to keep when the building goes down this summer.

"I have no idea, with respect to the equipment, if that's something that needs to be replaced," Vossen said.

Robins Hall is expected to get a replacement under Measure F, the $282-million school bond that seeks to modernize every campus in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The district plans to preserve the clock tower at the top of Robins Hall, for decades a symbol of Newport Harbor.

"That building's been standing vacant for a long time," Vossen said. "We're all kind of hanging on so we can make it to the end of June."