One or more thieves torched open a US Bank ATM in the Mountain View Mall on Wednesday night and got away with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to police and security officials.

Three private security officers responded to the mall in north Bend after alarms in the building went off at 10:50 p.m., said Dave Skala, owner of Magnum Enforcement, which provides security for the mall.

Skala said a security guard noticed the ATM in the middle of the mall, across from the Emporium, had been turned 180 degrees and cut open with a torch. The cash was gone, he said.

It was still hot to the touch, Skala said. ”I think we just barely missed them.”

The thief or thieves likely tripped motion detectors when they left the building, Skala said. He speculated they left through a door leading out of the northwest portion of the building between J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and a defunct movie theater.

Bend police responded to the scene at 11 p.m., and detectives returned on Thursday morning.

Police said they searched the roof of the mall to find how the building was entered. Detectives determined the mall was entered through a skylight, according to a Bend Police news release.

Skala said it appeared one or more individuals slid down a rope into the mall.

Then, he said, they broke into the ATM using a cutting torch and left through a mall door, tripping motion sensors that set off the alarm.

”It was not a sloppy job at all,” Skala said of the cut-up ATM machine.

Police did not disclose the amount of cash taken.

The FBI, which has jurisdiction in bank robbery cases, is also investigating.

”We’ll be looking at it jointly with the Bend Police Department,” said Joe Conli, supervisor of the FBI’s Bend office.

The thieves entered and left the building between 9 and 10:50 p.m., Skala said.

No one had been arrested in connection with the case as of Thursday night, according to Bend police.

Anyone with information regarding the burglary is asked to call the Bend Police Department at 322-2960; or Deschutes County 911 at 388-0170.

Tom Peterson can be reached at 541-383-0304 or tpeterson@bendbulletin.com.