Thefts at Apple retail stores on the rise, two reported this month

A store employee claims that at least one of the notebooks contained personal information, and that the theft could pose a risk to other customers. Additionally, an "unknown stock" of refurbished iPhones turned up missing alongside a high-end laptop used by the store's technical staff.

Seattle police were reportedly called to the University Village store at 4:44 a.m. Monday morning after an alarm signaled rear entry or motion, but the police report stated that all the doors were secure and nothing appeared to be out of place on the inside.

The latest burglary underscores a growing demand for the Cupertino-based company's products by unscrupulous or unknowing buyers, reports MacNN, which notes that there's been an increase in the number of thieves who are risking charges of grand theft and burglary just to acquire the goods.

Monday's incident comes less than two weeks after a similar Apple retail store burglary at Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. There, suspects stole $17,000 worth of goods by smashing out the front window of the store. The thieves reportedly made off with eight laptops, three iPods, and two iPhones at around 3:38 a.m. on August 13th.

Earlier this year, Apple's Twenty Ninth Street store in Colorado was forced to modified one of its display cases by securing the 30-pound container to the table upon which it rested. The changes came about after thieves boldly stole a 2 x 2 x 6-foot display case containing 42 4GB iPod nanos worth around $8,450. Amazingly, notes MacNN, the store employees said they noticed the case missing at around 5:00 p.m. which suggests that the theft may have occurred in broad daylight.

Last December, police stopped a motorist for having a brown plastic bag over his license plate and quickly learned that he had just burglarized an Apple Store in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The man was bleeding profusely from wounds he suffered as a result of smashing out the front glass window with a pipe wrench. He reportedly cut his arms on the broken glass while entering and exiting the store as he carried 56 stolen iPods worth almost $20,000 in a pink plastic tub.

One week prior, the Carrefour Lavel store in Canada was burglarized by thieves who managed to take numerous computers as well as several iPods, MacNN reported.