Vandals targeted Middleburgh Mayor Matthew Avitabile's home last week.
State Police are investigating the break-in, which came less than two months after Mr. Avitabile was elected mayor.
The vandals cut copper pipe in the basement of the Maple Avenue home, stole the pipe and left water running, Mayor Avitabile said.
And although it appeared at first that the pipe was taken because it's valuable, that may not be the case, the Mayor said.
"They cut part of a line to the kitchen, part to the bathroom, part to the hot-water heater, Mayor Avitabile said.
"They tried to get lines to every room."
The damage suggested to him that the vandalism was malicious rather than intended as theft.
State Police are checking scrap yards in the Capital District to see whether any copper pipe came in from Middleburgh, according to Investigator Thomas Cioffi.
"It looks like they were clean cuts with a pipe-cutter or a hacksaw," he said.
Trooper Matthew Mann has interviewed neighbors, Investigator Cioffi added.
Mayor Avitabile bought the home, which had been vacant for six or seven months, in February. Mayor Avitabile, his father and brother had been repairing the home over the past month or so.
With repairs ongoing, Mayor Avitabile hasn't been living there yet, though a roommate has. The roommate wasn't at the house at the time of the break-in, the night of May 11 or morning of Saturday, May 12.
"He found it Saturday. . .the water was rushing in the basement," Mayor Avitabile said of the roommate.
"It was lucky he caught it because there's a new furnace there."
He estimated the damage at $1,100.
A basement window was broken before the incident, so it may have provided entry. Also, like many homes in small towns, the house was unlocked, Mayor Avitabile said.
However, the house isn't isolated; there are homes nearby and the street is well-traveled, Mayor Avitabile said.
Still, there's not much for police to go on.
"You can't say we can't solve it," Investigator Cioffi said. "We may need a lucky break in a case with no witnesses and no evidence left behind.
"But you never know. We've caught people with scrap stuff before the complaint's been turned in."