San Francisco, Apr 7 (IANS): Thieves stole $500,000 worth of iPhones, iPads and Watches after breaking into an Apple store inside of a mall in the US.

According to the police, burglars got away with more than 400 electronics items from the Apple retailer at Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, Washington State, reports Komo News.

They made entry by cutting through the bathroom wall of the neighbouring espresso machine store, according to the Lynnwood Police Department (LPD).

"Approximately 436 iPhones in total were taken out of the back," LPD Communications Manager Maren McKay was quoted as saying.

"In total about $500,000 worth of merchandise was stolen and that's iPhones, iPads, Apple watches," McKay added.

The owner of the coffee machine store said they have never dealt with anything like this in five years in business at the mall.

Apple employees were not "aware of the extent of the massive theft until the next morning".

The tech giant did not comment on the burglary.

Brookfield Properties, the company that runs the mall, told KOMO News this was an isolated incident.

According to the police, it appeared to be a well-organised operation based on what they've seen from surveillance video.

"From the masks that the folks were wearing, there were no fingerprints left behind," McKay was quoted as saying in the report.