Waterloo police are searching for two male suspects after officers said they stopped them from stealing a bank machine inside Kitchener's Fairview Park mall on Sunday morning.

Police officers said they arrived at the mall at 5:30 a.m. and interrupted the theft of an ATM.

Authorities noted the two male suspects were wearing dark clothing and disguises before they fled the scene in a stolen pick-up truck, which was later recovered.

Lillian Stojanoski, the general manager of the Fairview Park shopping centre, confirmed the break-in occurred at the entrance near Walmart. The entrance doors were damaged during the incident, a mall administrator confirmed.

"Thankfully, no one was injured and we have reopened the entrance," Stojanoski told CBC News.

She was unable to say whether the truck had been driven into the mall, as has been the case in previous ATM thefts in the area, and directed all further questions to police.

Rash of thefts

If the heist had been successful, it would have been the fifth of its kind in the past month in the area.

On Jan. 27, a black pick-up truck was used to pull a bank machine from inside the front doors of the Manor, a strip club in Guelph. In that case, the thieves were dragging the machine behind the truck and it broke away from the truck as it was driven away from officers that were in pursuit.

On Feb. 3, a stolen truck was used to break through a set of doors at the Kitchener Auditorium causing significant damage. Two bank machines were stolen in that theft.

On Feb. 17, a bank machine was stolen from the Stampede Corral and two days later on Feb. 19, an ATM was taken from a FreshCo grocery store on University Avenue in Waterloo.

Police are investigating. No arrests have been made.