Safeway at Mangrove Avenue is reducing hours of operation due to a high amount of theft in the area.

The shopping center will now be closed from 2 to 5 a.m., seven days a week, instead of the previous 24 hour service.

Managers of Safeway declined to comment on the issue.

“A lot of the reasons for theft were the recycling center and dealing with folks that are transients in the park,” said Chief of Police, Michael O’ Brien.

Evan O’ Hara, the manager of Sports LTD said their store has lost over $1,000 in revenue the past year because of theft.

“The fact that I have two doors (in the entrance), but one of them is shut, means that we deal with it quite a bit,” O’ Hara said.

O’ Brien said the police department is using all resources to help catch thieves in a quick response time.

Jafet Serrato can be reached at [email protected] or @jafetserrato on Twitter.