A THIEF, or thieves, broke into a Rochester Park restaurant last week and made off with $44,000 worth of alcohol and almost three-dozen high-priced cigars.

The theft happened sometime either Thursday night or Friday morning.

An employee showed up for work on Friday morning and found the storeroom door open and the padlock missing, said police.

The glass door of the restaurant was also broken.

The restaurant lost 35 cigars worth $4,000 in addition to the booze.