The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office is investigating a string of vehicle burglaries that occurred in the Hayden area Sunday.

At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, three vehicles were burgled. More than $800 was taken from the vehicles and Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Community Service Officer Gary Shults said all three vehicles were left unlocked.

"We definitely think these are connected," Shults told The Press Wednesday. "Suspects in these cases will walk the streets at night, looking for unlocked cars. This had been an ongoing issue for years."

Shults added that while the sheriff's office does see forced entries, unlocked vehicles account for 80 percent of the incidents.

"When I was out there investigating these incidents in the winter, I could follow their tracks along a street and see where they went up to cars to check which ones are locked," Shults said.

The sheriff's office responded to two other vehicle thefts last weekend. On Friday, an unlocked vehicle was entered in Harrison and tools valued at $600 were stolen. In Dalton Gardens on Sunday, two locked vehicles were entered and $960 was stolen.

If anyone has any information regarding these burglaries, Shults encouraged them to call (208) 446-1300.