Police are searching for burglars who broke into several Kew Gardens houses and apartments, stealing cash, electronics and jewelry earlier this month. View Full Caption Flickr/Nick Allen

QUEENS — Police are searching for burglars who broke into several Kew Gardens homes and apartments — including three in one day — and stole cash, electronics and jewelry earlier this month.

Burglaries in the 102nd Precinct, which covers the neighborhood as well as Richmond Hill, part of Woodhaven and Ozone Park, are up more than 44 percent from Jan. 1 through Jan. 19 compared to the same period last year.

Overall crime in the precinct was up more than 40 percent during the same time period.

Three of the burglaries occurred on Jan. 13. in a single apartment building on Grenfell Street, near Union Turnpike, police said.

In at least two cases, thieves burglarized apartments after breaking through the front door when the owners were at work.

They stole 900 euros, two watches and earrings from one apartment, $400 from the second victim and $200, five sets of earrings, a wedding ring and a bracelet from the third apartment, police said.

In a separate burglary pattern, thieves also targeted homes in Kew Gardens.

During one of the burglaries, which occurred on Jan. 13 on 82nd Road, between Austin Street and Kew Gardens Road, thieves stole a laptop, a valuable coin and several pieces of custom-made jewelry, police said.

The thieves broke into at least two other houses on 82nd Road within the next couple of days, also targeting electronics and jewelry, according to police officials.

Each time, police said, the burglars broke through the back door or rear windows. The homes had no alarms installed and the break-ins occurred in early afternoons.

Meanwhile, there was also a string of burglaries in nearby Forest Hills and Rego Park, in which thieves broke into apartments through open or unlocked windows adjacent to fire escapes, police sources said.

A similar pattern occurred in the neighborhood last fall.