Thieves broke into this Kensington Catholic school. They took more than copper and computers.

In the darkness of an early morning this week, thieves bent a metal grate shielding a basement window, slipping into the Kensington Catholic school through basement bathrooms. A U-Haul truck waited outside.

Over four hours early Tuesday, the thieves ripped out copper and metal pipes and even urinals and sinks, breaking the main water line, flooding Visitation BVM School and rendering the heating system for both church and school unusable. Classrooms were ransacked and computers stolen. A new boiler that was being installed was damaged; equipment and food stored in the basement ruined.

Visitation, at 300 E. Lehigh Ave., has been closed since Tuesday, when Principal Ed Coleman walked in to discover five feet of water and evidence everywhere of the break-in. The financial extent of the damage is not yet clear, but it’s likely at least in the tens of thousands of dollars, school officials say.

But beyond the physical damage, the robbery took more from Visitation, which sits in the heart of one of Philadelphia’s poorest neighborhoods, a section hit hard by the opioid epidemic and by gun violence. The school, church, and social services it offers mean much to the surrounding Latino and Vietnamese communities.

“This is the community’s safe space, and it got invaded,” said the Rev. Francis Mulvaney, Visitation’s pastor.

Visitation educates nearly 400 students, most of whom attend on scholarship. The school’s fund-raising efforts have been “hit hard” by the pandemic, board member Boyd Kelly said. “We’re trying to find ways to raise money, and this is just another thing.”

The school’s tagline is “A beacon of hope for our community,” and people take that seriously, said Erin Cortez, the parent of three current Visitation students.

“I drop my children off at school and go to work knowing they’re safe,” said Cortez. “Now, if this can happen, what else can happen? It’s so scary.”

While the neighborhood has long been plagued by crime, the church and school have largely been spared. But recently, more cars have been broken into during Mass, with car parts ripped out. Mulvaney was recently assaulted when he intervened in an attack near the school, punched on a weekday on a busy street.

“This has always been something that could happen, but now, it’s here,” said Coleman. “I don’t understand how someone could do this to a school and affect the children that are coming here.”

Authorities are still investigating, a police spokesperson said, and no arrests have been made.

The school had cameras and outside lights, but no alarm system. Mulvaney and Coleman say that will change going forward.

Coleman has been focused on the practical: dealing with contractors and insurance representatives, throwing out the food, water-damaged coats, and uniform shirts he had gathered to give to those in need, inventorying what has been destroyed and what can be saved.

Students are learning remotely for the time being, though it’s tricky — some of the 400 children who attend Visitation don’t have reliable internet access at home, so can’t easily log in. Coleman believes the school can reopen on Monday.

Paige Musha hopes so. Her daughter is a first grader at Visitation, and Musha works at the after-school program. They’re both eager to get back to school, but shaken by the robbery.

“The needles outside are one thing,” said Musha. “But now it came inside. They robbed our children, and that school is their safety, their second home. It’s just awful, especially this time of year.”

Cortez had tears in her eyes when she learned what happened.

“We already don’t live in the best neighborhood, and now I have to explain to my kids those very things that I’m trying to instill in them, other people are going directly against,” she said. “The people who did it, maybe they won’t get caught by the police, but they’re going to have to answer to God.”