Before Augusta or Aiken, there was Beech Island, a city full of rich history.

Now a little piece of that history has been stolen.

The Beech Island Historical Society has collected artifacts from the city's past for years.

Early Friday morning someone broke into their Visitors and History Center, stealing not only precious artifacts, but also a collection of memories.

"The worst thing you could think of someone's broken in here and I said 'what could they could have taken,'" said the society’s president, Jackie Bartley.

She soon learned it was her very own collection of Indian artifacts dating back to 8500 B.C., a collection she loaned to the Center to display.

"I had been collecting those since I was 6 years old around my house," Bartley said.

A small box of metal artifacts from the 1700s was also stolen.

"But nothing else. I haven't found anything been disturbed or taken," Bartley said.

Most of the stolen artifacts were points or arrowheads. Now replicas of those items may be all the society feels safe to display.

"I don't think we're going to put anymore of our artifacts back in that case," Bartley said.

She said the stolen items were worth around $1000. But she said their place in Beech Island's past makes them worth much more.

"They'll be lost from now on. A big piece lost of our history and there won't be anything for the children who come in here to look and see," Bartley said.

Aiken County Sheriff's Department is still investigating the case.

The Historical Society's Visitors and History Center is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11am - 2pm.