A two-ship of Israeli Air Force F-16s from Ramon Air Base. Photo: wiki commons.

Israel’s Walla news reported Thursday that the Israeli Air Force has discovered several F-16 jet engines were stolen in recent days.

Arutz Sheva reports that senior IAF sources said the thieves who stole the engines had to have been assisted by someone within the base. They based this conclusion on the fact that there was no damage to the base’s perimeter fence. This lead investigators to believe that the thieves went in and out through the gates using large vehicles as the engines weigh over 1.5 tons and are more than 15 feet long.

The parts were slated to be repaired. The report did not disclose which base the engines were stolen from.

Arutz Sheva also reports that most likely the engines were stolen by Arab metal thieves, weapons dealers or terror-related agents.

In July, Bedouin metal thieves infiltrated the IDF base at Tze’elim in the Negev and stole crates of ammunition, which the IDF insisted were empty. The Bedouins entered the base in SUVs.

An army source called the incident “grave” and said it was the first of its kind, the Times of Israel reported.