Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen

David Chiu at a campaign rally in San Francisco's Chinatown on Monday, August 29, 2011

Burglars broke into David Chiu's campaign office at Van Ness and Clay early Monday morning, campaign officials said, stealing thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment and rummaging through confidential files one day before Election Day.

The campaign would not speculate on whether the break-in was politically motivated or related to the mayor's race, and it appears unlikely that any sensitive materials obtained now could meaningfully sway Tuesday's election. But the incident adds a last-minute twist to a contest that has not been wanting for intrigue.

"They rooted through our confidential files and definitely took out campaign-related materials, that’s all I can say," said campaign spokesman Addisu Demissie. The campaign has referred the matter to the police department to investigate.

“If this was a politically motivated attempt to distract the Chiu for Mayor campaign on the eve of Election Day, it has failed miserably," Nicole Derse, Chiu's campaign manager, said in a statement. "David and our team of volunteers are as determined as ever to get our message out to San Franciscans in these last hours before voters go to the polls."