Updates story posted at 9:27 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD – One of two stolen safes recovered from an abandoned home in the McKnight neighborhood early Wednesday was reported missing from a home just a few streets away last week, police said.

Investigators believe the contents of both safes were partially burned when one or more suspects apparently used a torch to get inside.

The second safe contained a charred checkbook from Wesley United Methodist Church at 741 State St., Sgt. John Delaney said.

Delaney could not immediately provide information on a break-in at that church. Investigators, however, could be heard over the police radio early Wednesday afternoon discussing a recently discovered break-in there.

Delaney, public information officer for the department, said the other safe contained a partially-burned passport which belonged to a Cornell Street woman whose home was discovered broken into on Aug. 6.

Firefighters were summoned to the property at 168 Marion St. shortly after 4:30 a.m. when smoke, ostensibly from the burning contents of one or both of the safes, drifted into a neighboring house and set off a smoke alarm, Dennis Leger, aide to Commissioner Joseph Conant, said.

The Springfield Arson & Bomb Squad was also summoned to the scene. Investigators theorized that the suspect or suspects fled after triggering the alarm next door.

At least one of the safes was found in the living room and investigators found a small crowbar, a pair of pliers and a flashlight nearby, Leger said.

The property at 168 Marion St. has been vacant for some time and has attracted vagrants and vandals, Leger said.