Police in eastern Uusimaa have located parts from a stolen ATM which was ripped from a supermarket wall in the village of Mäntsälä last week, the department announced on Tuesday.
Police suspect that two thieves used a bucket loader they briefly commandeered to rip out the cash machine from an exterior wall of the Citymarket on the Sälinkääntie street last Friday at about 3am.
Head investigator on the case, Chief Inspector Rauno Jämsä, said he was unable to reveal how much money had been taken from the device, because the preliminary investigation was still ongoing.
However, he did note that the case was exceptional.
"These kinds of cases are really not common. I've worked at the department for 30 years and 17 years as a lead investigator, and I can't think of a situation where an ATM was stolen in such a brutal manner," Jämsä said.
ATM thefts were more common at the turn of the millennium, when banknotes were more commonly used, according to Jämsä.
"That [type of crime] boom has calmed down, because you hardly get any cash from them any more," Jämsä explained.
Police are still seeking eyewitness accounts of the theft. Observations can be forwarded to the Eastern Uusimaa police department's WhatsApp hotline at 050 399 9026 or via email, at vihjeet.ita-uusimaa(at)poliisi.fi.