Over $50K in checks stolen from Obama campaign office: EXCLUSIVE - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

While President Barack Obama campaigns for re-election, workers at his national campaign headquarters in Chicago have a mystery on their hands. FOX Chicago News has learned staffers called Chicago Police Wednesday morning to report the theft of approximately $50,000 in checks intended to pay for campaign expenses.

Two squad cars were seen parked outside the Prudential Plaza building Wednesday where Obama for America headquarters is located. Officers responded to the call at 10:46 a.m., and were seen exiting the building carrying brown manilla envelopes.

Three checks being mailed to vendors as payment for campaign services were apparently pilfered before they even made it past the building's front door. Sources tell FOX Chicago that two of the checks were for over $20,000 apiece.

At least one of the checks had already been deposited into a downtown bank account.

Midwest Press Secretary Ben Finkenbinder confirmed Chicago police are investigating a call about missing money. "Three checks we sent to vendors made it into the wrong hands, and after learning of this we notified police," Finkenbinder said in a statement. "We're pleased that they're dealing with the issue swiftly, and we don't expect this to have any impact upon the campaign."

Security inside the Prudential Plaza complex is extremely tight. Anyone headed upstairs to Obama's campaign headquarters must be credentialed to get past the lobby.

Hundreds of campaign staffers work inside the Obama for America office. Sources say there is no evidence that the office was broken into, but the theft is not believed to be an "inside job."

The investigation has been assigned to Area Central detectives. The case was initially classified as "theft by deception," which potentially includes crimes like embezzlement, forgery or counterfeiting.

A Chicago Police spokesman would only say they are involved in an "ongoing investigation" and that nobody is in custody.