A small congregation in Middleton, N.S., has been left in the cold after someone drained hundreds of dollars worth of furnace oil from their church's tank.

Theresa Character, a missionary who works with the North Street Chapel, made the discovery Saturday afternoon.

"I went ... to decorate the church for Christmas and I just automatically turned the furnace on and I didn't hear it come on, so I was wondering what was the matter," Character told CBC Radio's Maritime Noon on Tuesday.

"So I went outside to look at the oil tank and that's when I discovered that someone had cut the line from the outside oil tank part of it, and obviously they had stolen the oil and we couldn't get any heat in the church."

Character said the tank was about three-quarters full when the thief struck.

She said the culprit left behind tools and tubing that were likely used to make the cut and siphon the oil.

"It's terrible that they don't care and that's what they're doing," she said. "That's what bothers me more than anything, that they don't think about the person who's there doing this, too. It's so sad that people are doing these things, you know?"

Const. Dominic Laflamme said Annapolis District RCMP received a report about the theft of oil at a building on North Street in Middleton on Saturday and are investigating.

The incident is one of many thefts and break-ins that have happened in the area recently, and among an "increasing number" of similar reports police have received over the last two to three years, the RCMP said.

In a news release last week, the Annapolis District RCMP said they had arrested a man who had stolen more than $500 worth of tools from a Middleton hardware store.

In September, Character said the church's mission house, which is also located on North Street, was broken into and ransacked. The RCMP said officers are investigating that as well, and determined someone entered the building between June and mid-September.

"It's very, very frustrating ... and it's expensive to try to fix it up," she said, adding that repairs and a new door for that building cost about $700.

Character said she's angry that someone would steal from a congregation of about 10 people.

"I've been praying for him ever since he did it. I really have been praying for him — that he'll get caught. That's what I'm really praying, that he'll get caught," she said.

Character said she'd also like to see more of a police presence in the Middleton area overnight, when these incidents usually happen.

She said any money that goes into the offering plate at church would be used to fix the oil line, but people in the community have already offered financial support.

Middleton-based Savage Oil even offered to replace the stolen oil once the tank is fixed, she said.

"People in the town have called and just said they would like to help out and give donations, so that's been a blessing to hear," she said.

When asked about the possibility of an overnight police presence, Laflamme said in an email that the RCMP deploys resources as needed and takes into consideration the calls to service as well as factors such as crime trends and strategy.