The grinches struck early this year.
Residents of storm-battered Breezy Point returned from the Thanksgiving holiday to discover that thieves had looted their damaged homes — even taking one family’s change jars, The Post has learned.
At least three homeowners in the Queens enclave were robbed, including a couple that lost a $25,000 coin collection along with jewelry and watches at their flooded house.
The break-ins — part of a rash of recent burglaries — occurred between Wednesday and Thursday, when most residents were away for the holiday.
Burglars struck a house whose basement art and recording studios were lost to Sandy’s floodwaters — and made off with $400 in two change jars.
“I’ve been putting my best efforts forward into putting my home back together and staying strong,” said the home’s owner, Robert Bainbridge, 57.
“This just adds insult to injury.”
In addition to his studios, his family lost two cars.
“It’s a total lack of morals and ethics on their part,” said Bainbridge, a married father of a teenage girl.
“Whoever did this is not thinking, ‘This could happen to me.’ ”
He believes a screwdriver was used to pry open his front door. Fearing another burglary, he erected a wood barricade against the door.
“I have apprehension and angst that this might happen again,” he said.
Another break-in victim called it a “terrible violation.”
“It’s just been one big ordeal,” said the woman, who didn’t want her name used.
“I’m very uncomfortable. I don’t want them coming back here. All I wanted to do was come home.”
She and her husband had left their house Wednesday — their first day with electricity since Sandy — to stay with family for the holiday.
They returned yesterday to find a window near the dining room pried open and the front door unlocked.
Her husband’s collection of silver half-dollars, worth $25,000, was the most valuable item taken, but the couple is most upset about a pair of stolen watches.
One was a gift the wife gave to her husband.
The other was given to the man, a former ironworker, by his employer in honor of his retirement.
“Those are more sentimental to me,” he said.
He said cops told him he was one of many burglary victims in Breezy Point.
“People aren’t here during the week, so when they come back on the weekend, they notice their stuff is gone,” he said.
His wife said, “It’s usually such a safe community, but with what went on here, anyone could put on a Con Ed uniform and just walk around.”
They had never been robbed before, the wife said.
“We’ve lived here for 30 years, and nothing like this has ever happened,” she said.
“We have deck furniture outside, plants. Nothing has ever been taken before.”
A laptop and jewelry were stolen from a home whose living room, dining room and bathroom were destroyed in the storm and that was still without power.
Its owner didn’t realize the home was broken into at first, because so much of it was damaged by the storm.
“Our house is in bad shape. It looks like an earthquake hit it,” she said.
She had returned to meet with her insurance company to assess the damage but noticed that many of her drawers had been rifled through.
Cops told the victims burglaries are on the rise in Breezy Point.
There were 14 home break-ins from Nov. 12 to Nov. 18, compared with none a year before.
And in the 28 days before that, there were 48 burglaries. Only four break-ins were reported in that time period the year before.
In the days after Sandy, some of the hardest-hit areas were plagued with store looting, home burglaries, street muggings and other crimes.