A thief broke into a truck and ruined one man’s hard-earned surprise he was planning for his family.

On Saturday morning, along Three Oaks Way in Santee, Robert Hoxie and a friend went to Hoxie’s work truck parked in the driveway and saw something strange.

“They noticed it was unlocked. That is strange. My husband always locks his truck,” said Jeanette Hoxie.

Inside the truck was a tossed center console.

“The driver’s visor was down. He had a black pouch that attached to the visor that was gone,” said Jeanette Hoxie.

Inside the pouch, some $3,000 her husband had been saving since January - for a surprise family vacation.

The couple has a joint bank account, and he wanted to keep the money a secret.

“Some people would wonder why he leaves it in his truck. I was asking the same questions, but I understand where his heart was. We feel violated and I feel bad for him,” said Jeanette Hoxie.

When the couple filed a report, Hoxie says the deputy told them four other cars had been targeted in the past week, three on the same street.

“They said they're trying to put a case together and going after these teenagers as young as 14,” said Jeanette Hoxie.

Hoxie believes a neighbor spotted those teens Friday night.

“She saw two young children flashing cellphone lights into cars,” said Hoxie.

She believes the thieves broke into the locked truck, using some sort of tool like a Slim Jim.

Santee deputies told 10News that teens were suspects in one of the incidents and they have yet to connect the recent crimes.