Thieves carved a hole into the roof of a Florida shopping mall to steal $50,000 in sneakers in a heist the local sheriff dubbed "right out of 'Mission Impossible.'"

Photos show a hole in the roof of the Treasure Coast Mall in Martin County surrounded by stacks of empty boxes of Nike and New Balance kicks.

The crooks struck sometime between midnight and 8 a.m. Tuesday, slicing through concrete and metal to somehow eventually get into the Champs Sports to steal around 500 pairs of shoes.

"We had a burglary that ... appears to be right out of 'Mission Impossible,'" Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said in a press conference on Wednesday.

"They didn't do that with a handsaw. They used electric tools -- probably a grinder or saw -- and somehow worked for hours without being detected," Budensiek said.

It was unclear how many were involved in the daring raid, and "we don't know how they made their way from the roof down into the actual business and then back out," the sheriff noted.

Budensiek estimated the value of the stolen shoes to be around $50,000.

"The stolen merchandise was bagged, tagged, thrown off the roof, and loaded into a getaway vehicle," said the sheriff's office in a Facebook post. "As you can see some of the goods got hastily left behind," he added, referring to filled black bags also left at the scene.

Though the thieves must've known a lot about the layout of the mall, Budensiek said his office doesn't believe it was an inside job.

"These are organized crime criminals that are probably travelling criminals," Budensiek explained. "We anticipate catching them."

The robbery happened days after the high-profile heist at the Louvre in Paris, France.

Organized robbery has been a problem for Martin County, according to the sheriff. Other law enforcement across the state have been notified of the incident, and are collaborating with Martin County detectives to find the thieves.

Sneaky! Thieves cut hole in mall roof to swipe $50K in sneakers:...