Girl Scout’s Camp Howdy burglarized; Over $20,000 worth of equipment gone

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - A Girl Scouts camp in Bryan was burglarized leaving the group feeling violated and targeted.

Camp Howdy is located just west of Bryan in a fairly discrete location.

According to the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office, the gate to the property was cut sometime between July 4 and July 9.

“There are a number of items stolen from the property. This includes a utility vehicle and a riding lawnmower, as well as many power tools, and we estimate the replacement value to be around $24,000,” Chief Communications Officer for the Girl Scouts of Central Texas, Kursten Mitchell, said.

The exact location of Camp Howdy is not made readily available to the public. That, and seeing the buildings targeted, Mitchell believes the person responsible had knowledge of the property.

“I think the fact that we feel targeted by this robbery is not a good feeling and it’s hard to understand why anyone would decide to target a nonprofit organization in general and girls in particular,” she said. “We’re really careful so that the girls can feel safe, we don’t want them to feel unsafe in the world. That’s a huge part of our programming. Is giving them a place where they feel supported. "

The sheriff’s office was able to recover some tools at the scene that were used in the burglary and said they are working to identify a suspect.

Mitchell said being a nonprofit that benefits young girls, they rely on donations and community support. She said this incident has set them back in their work to provide these camps.

“This affects the programming that we’re able to offer girls, because of the robbery. It’s a significant amount for our Council, what was stolen, and we manage our finances very carefully. It’s just really sad to feel like there were people out there who wanted to target our girls,” Mitchell said.

If you have information regarding the burglary, contact the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office at (979) 361-4955.