A San Francisco restaurant owner says thieves stole $5,000 of Wagyu beef, after trying and failing to break into a next door Apple store

• The owner of a Japanese restaurant in San Francisco's Marina District claims thieves stole $5,000 of Wagyu beef.
• Ace Wasabi's owner told ABC7 San Francisco that they broke into the restaurant's storage unit at 5:15 a.m. on Thursday.

The owner of a Japanese restaurant in San Francisco claims that a group of thieves stole $5,000 of Wagyu beef.

ABC7 San Francisco reported that surveillance video showed people looking through the freezers in the storage unit of Ace Wasabi in the Marina District at around 5:15 a.m. on Thursday. Ken Lowe, the restaurant's owner, told the outlet that they stole around $5,000 of Wagyu beef and some seafood.

Wagyu beef is one of the world's most expensive meats. The cows' lengthy fattening process and the huge amount of feed they consume are some of the reasons it commands a premium price.

Lowe told ABC7 that the surveillance footage appeared to suggest that the thieves had chosen his restaurant after unsuccessfully trying to break into the Apple store next door.

Just three days later, on Sunday, Lowe got a call from police saying that someone had also broken into the pizzeria he owns, Pinsa Rossa, he told The San Francisco Chronicle. The thief had smashed the window and stolen the cash drawer, though this only contained $5, Lowe told The Chronicle. Thieves had broken into his car the previous week, too, he said.

Business Insider has contacted the San Francisco Police Department for further information

San Francisco's reputation has been blighted in recent years by rising homelessness, a number of vacant offices and stores, and reports of growing crime.

"I understand people are hungry, but crime is crime," Lowe told The Chronicle. "I am empathetic, but I don't want empathy to outweigh common sense when it comes to solving our crime situation."