The parking lot is quiet and empty, lit only by street lights and store signs — that’s when they strike.

By dawn, all that’s left behind is an excavator and the hole it chewed into the bank wall, the remnants of an ATM, torn out like the belly of easy prey.

ATM theft by excavation is bizarre, but on the rise. Since December 2024, there have been at least six incidents across the GTA, all within a month or two of each other. Each time, police are called to the scene during early morning hours to find an abandoned excavator and extensive damage to the exterior of a bank — and the one thing that should be there is gone: the ATM.

Smash and grab

“All these machines have mufflers to keep the noise down, so they can be used in the city without bothering people,” said Tim Allan, an instructor

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