Mower County Sheriff’s deputies caught two Austin men trying to steal tin and other metal from an unoccupied home at the 50000 block of 235th Street in rural Austin on Monday morning.

Sheriff Terese Amazi said deputies caught the burglars, ages 26 and 39, loading a furnace and other metal objects into a trailer at the home shortly after 9 a.m. Monday.

Law enforcement were tipped off after witnesses saw an SUV with a trailer drive onto the property. Deputies snuck in and confronted one of the men outside the home. The men tried to tell police they were helping a friend, but they couldn’t identify which friend.