A group of three men burglarized a Sunglass Hut at the Outlets at Silverthorne late Friday night, according to police. At approximately 10:30 p.m., the three men — masked and dressed in black — broke the front lock of the store, disabled the alarm and quickly took a large amount of inventory.

According to Silverthorne Police Chief Mark Hanschmidt, the thieves left through the back door and drove away after a security guard posted out front returned and called 911. Police were able to capture half of the car’s license plate on camera.

“We hate to see things like this happen. But nobody got hurt,” Hanschmidt said.

A clerk at one of the neighboring stores said the theft took place within six minutes, according to a recording of the incident. Another added that the thieves “cleared out the entire store.”

Hanschmidt said that the theft matched a slew of instances that have taken place across the country, with the same pattern of breaking front-door locks and leaving the crime scene in a matter of minutes.

“It wasn’t locals that did this,” he said. “Unfortunately, these guys are very good at what they do; they have the same M.O. all over the U.S.”

However, he added that Silverthorne police detectives have been able to gather a significant amount of information that might help prevent future thefts at other targeted stores. He did not comment on the value of the stolen sunglasses.

A Sunglass Hut employee would not comment on the theft but noted that the store would reopen on Wednesday, Sept. 16.