GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. — Six units at Guntersville Self Storage were broken into and stolen from over Labor Day weekend. One of those affected is a local soldier who has been serving for 25 years.

Matthew Causey was serving in Germany as a member of the Alabama National Guard when the incident happened. He flew home on September 3 and when he returned, many of his items were stolen from the storage shed.

“About a week and a half after I got home, I came by the storage unit to retrieve some items,” says Causey. “That’s when they notified me that my storage unit had been broken into.” The management showed Causey a picture of a mess left behind, full of his personal belongings.

The thieves took bins full of Causey’s personal belongings, ammunition, and certificates of 18 years of law enforcement training and more than 20 years of volunteer fire service. Along with those items, was a binder known as an “I love me” book where Causey keeps all of his military records and medals earned in combat.

“I’ve received a bronze star in Iraq, a bronze star in Afghanistan, numerous medals throughout my career along with all my documents that I track my military career and kept up with throughout my 25 years of service.”

Now, Causey just wants the items back and is looking for the community to help.

“I want help in finding my military records, I want help in getting my history back. It is my history, it is my legacy for my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren. It’s a display of my commitment to my country and service to my country.”

Matthew Causey says if anyone has information on the break-in or where his military items may be, to contact Guntersville Police Department. The phone number for the department is (256) 571-7571.

The thieves broke into Guntersville Self Storage through the back gate and left an open hole, that is now repaired.

The property manager of the storage company says the owner is working on adding more cameras to the back storage area to prevent things like this from happening again.