Unknown burglars crippled the NIU art visual communications program Sunday by stealing more than $12,000 in computer equipment from a classroom.

The equipment—an Apple Macintosh computer, a laserwriter, an Apple II page monitor, a pagemaker and a keyboard bought during the summer—was stolen from a room thieves pried open with a crowbar, said Jerry Meyer, art department acting chair.

“These people are good. They had heavy equipment and a lot of muscle,” said design professor John DeLillo.

“We are devastated. We went from being a leader in graphic design education to who knows what. We’re worse off than we were five years ago,” DeLillo said.

Students raised money to buy the computer equipment during the past five years by winning art competitions, which gave NIU cash prizes for excellence in programs, DeLillo said.

Meyer said he thinks the thieves wiped out another computer lab last year when they broke in and stole other Macintosh computers.