Storm Trooper stolen from Palm Springs real estate agency

Local Star Wars fans are outraged over an unlikely item being stolen from a Palm Springs real estate agency. A life-size Storm Trooper stolen from Leaskou Partners Sunday night, and no security systems triggered.

“Well, we have motion sensors, we have glass sensors, every agent has a code, we have cameras so we can see who comes and goes. But for some reason, they were able to sneak in,” said Rob Grace, vice president of Public Relations at Leaskou Partners.

Monday morning employees came in to find the glass on the back door smashed.

“I looked and I could see all the broken glass on the floor. I could see a metal rod sticking through the door,” said real estate agent,” Meda Thompson.

All that remains of the Storm Trooper is a stand and a piece of the trooper’s armor.

“This is the one piece that eluded them. This is the one piece left. So if they were taking it to resell for profit, not having a piece would hinder that,” Grace said.

The Storm trooper was a gift to owner Benjamin Leaskou a couple of years ago. It’s not just employees who know about it — people come by and take pictures and even selfies with the Storm Trooper through the glass, which leads employees to think the burglar only wanted one thing.

“The Strom Trooper was the only thing stolen, which is fascinating to me because there’s a lot of valuables in the office. Personal items from over 70 agents that we have here,” Grace said.

We reached out to the Palm Springs Police Department, and they said having the statue visible from the street might have enticed burglars.

“It’s very public, people know that we have it, so it could have been anyone,” Grace said.

Everyone at the office hopes that whoever took the trooper returns it. In the meantime, they’ve got plans to ramp up security so something like this doesn’t happen again.