Full swimming pool stolen, not a drop spilled

Story Highlights
Hip-high, 10-foot diameter inflatable pool disappears from New Jersey yard
No sign of the 1,000 gallons of water it contained
Pool's owner says theft must have occurred within four-hour time frame
Police tell newspaper pool heist must have been planned
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PATERSON, New Jersey (AP) -- Daisy Valdivia is annoyed that someone stole her backyard pool -- and baffled at how they did it without leaving behind a splash, drip or trace of the 1,000 gallons of water it contained.

Valdivia awoke to find her family's hip-high, inflatable, 10-foot diameter swimming pool gone from her back yard Wednesday.

Valdivia told The Record of Bergen County the theft must have occurred between 1 a.m., when her husband went to bed, and 5 a.m., when she awoke.

She's amazed someone could steal the pool that quickly and just wanted to know "what the heck they did with the water," she said.

Valdivia told The Herald News of Passaic County that she was surprised the thieves chose the pool to steal.

"We have two grills, chairs, umbrellas, they're much easier to take," she told the paper.

Paterson police told The Herald News the theft was apparently planned.

"Someone took a little time and effort thinking about this," Lt. Anthony Traina of the Paterson Police Department said. "This wasn't just walking by and snatching a bike. That tells us something, too." E-mail to a friend