Shoplifting high-valued items; it's a problem many stores face, but store owners say they're hit harder when it's one of a kind items criminals are after.
Over $500 worth of collectibles were stolen from Big River Antiques in LeClaire, but the thief was caught on camera.
"She basically opened this cabinet, grabbed the items and filled her bag, closed it up and walked off," Store Owner Mushroom Flachs says.
That's what cameras in the antique store caught this woman doing on July 19th.
"She seemed to know what she was after, she came in the door, went directly over to that case and filled her purse up," Flachs says.
Owners Mushroom and Ginger Flachs say two lion statues were taken, along with a civil-war era baby rattle, all collectibles, highly valued and hard to replace.
Down the road, a store owner who didn't want to be identified says they saw this woman in their store that same day, and had a very personal item taken from them too.
"It's not like you can order them from a catalogue, you have to go out and find them," Ginger Flachs says.
This isn't the first time it's happened either. Last October, the antiques shop was broken into and thousands of dollars worth of items were taken.
"We were going ‘Oh my god, not again,'" Ginger Flachs says, "It practically wiped us out because it was all this stuff we collected forever."
"We're still looking for that stuff," Mushroom Flachs says.
Three men were arrested last December, and the Flachs took steps to catch future incidents like this one.
"Now we're getting proactive and we've got a lot of cameras," Mushroom Flachs says.
Even with the video, they keep replaying the incident in their minds.
"You just want to go how come I wasn't right there? How come I didn't glance over at the camera at the time?" Ginger Flachs says.
But they're fighting back and getting the word out to find this latest culprit.
"It's personal, it's like stealing from a person, it's like walking up and taking somebody's billfold," Ginger Flachs says, "You never know who walks in your door, but I'm hoping and praying somebody in this area knows her."
Anyone with information is urged to contact LeClaire police.
