The Sacramento Police Department arrested a man Tuesday accused of breaking into The Sacramento Bee’s newsroom in East Sacramento and stealing several items during the weekend, including Pulitzer Prize gold medals awarded to the newspaper.

The break-in occurred over several hours at The Bee’s offices in the 1600 block of Alhambra Boulevard in The Cannery, according to video surveillance that showed the burglar tried to use electronic means to enter the newsroom late Saturday night but failed to gain entry.

Video footage captured the same man using a tool to pry open The Bee’s front doors about 7 a.m. Sunday, before rifling through a security station and entering the newsroom through a second set of locked doors. According to the surveillance footage shared with police, the man then left and returned twice over several hours.

The suspect is expected to be booked into downtown Sacramento County Main Jail on Tuesday, police said.

Among the items taken were The Bee’s 1935 and 1992 Pulitzer Prize gold medals for public service.

The Bee’s first gold medal was awarded for a series of stories campaigning against a corrupt political machine in Nevada. Two federal judicial nominations were withdrawn as a result of the investigation. The second was for “Sierra in Peril,” a series of reports written by journalist Tom Knudson that detailed environmental threats to the Sierra Nevada range.

Each medal is different, with the older award being about 142 grams of 14-karat gold and the newer medal being made of silver with a 24-karat gold plating. The 1935 medal is similar to a 1932 medal given to the New York World-Telegraph that sold at auction in 2014 for nearly $50,000. The medal’s design was created by sculptor Daniel Chester French and his associate Henry Augustus Lukeman, according to Columbia University, which administers the prizes.

Such medals are coveted in the journalism industry and given to a newspaper rather than an individual for meritorious reporting that serves the public good, according to the prizes’ organizers. The awards were among several other prize medals and certificates that were housed in a locked glass cabinet on display in The Bee’s newsroom.