Post office mailboxes and bill-pay boxes in Sandstone and Askov were broken into this week, and authorities are asking users to double-check that mail and payments arrive and to report any suspected theft.
"Two blue collection boxes were broken into - one in Sandstone and one in Askov," said U.S. postal inspector Rachel Williams, based in Minneapolis. "The boxes were not stolen, but were damaged and pried open."
The Pine County Sheriff's Office first reported the incidents on its Facebook page, saying the mailbox at the Sandstone post office was tampered with late Monday or early Tuesday, and the mailbox at the Askov post office late Wednesday or early Thursday. The bill-pay box for the city of Askov also was tampered with.
Residents and other postal and bill-pay box users who deposited items into those boxes were being urged to double-check that payments arrive at destinations.
Williams said she had not heard of any other mailboxes in the area being broken into, and said the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigation is ongoing and being conducted along with the sheriff's office.
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No suspects have been identified or taken in custody, she said Friday.
She urged consumers who may have mailed any items in either of the U.S. Postal Service blue collection boxes to file a mail theft complaint online at postalinspectors.uspis.gov, or by contacting Inspector John Livingston at (877) 876-2455.
Customers should only be concerned about mail placed in the boxes on days before they were tampered with, Williams said, meaning Monday in Sandstone and Wednesday in Askov.
Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to contact the Pine County Sheriff's Office at (320) 629-8380.
