Kenneth Wheatley washed a load of new jeans and shirts and hung them on the clothes line to dry.

When he woke up on Thursday morning, they were gone.

"It's just getting sick out there, when it comes to stealing clothes right off people's lines,'' Mr. Wheatley, 26, said yesterday.

The new clothes cost about $300, he said.

Mr. Wheatley said his family could do without the expense of a clothes dryer, but "it looks like we're going to spend that extra cash.'' Police are investigating.