discerning thieves targeting south asian homes in northern va.

The Washington Post reports that burglars with a keen appreciation for gold have been targeting Indian and South Asian homes in a series of daytime break-ins in Northern Virginia: All That Glitters Isn't Stolen.

The peculiar this is that the thieves appear to have taste. They've taken 22-karat pieces but left behind sterling silver and well-crafted costume jewelry. They've stolen custom-made gold-threaded saris worth thousands, while leaving behind saris worth only hundreds.

Officers in Fairfax and Loudoun counties have yet to figure out how the burglars so successfully identify houses with large gold caches. Police have eliminated many of the obvious links between the victims: churches, temples, schools or even grocery stores where they could have been tracked.

The most recent break-in was last Thursday in South Riding in Loudon. The burglaries also include six Fair Oaks homes hit in two days last week in Fairfax and sixteen burglaries between January and August in Reston, Centreville and Fair Oaks.

The thieves operate with a notable precision, not only in choosing houses but also on sorting the take. They know what they're doing, who they're targeting, and what they're looking for. So, if heads up to South Asian families in Northern Virgnia. Watch out! Guard your gold.