NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Copper theft at the Donelson Senior Center is affecting the heating system at the Nashville care facility. Donations and volunteers make the dozens of programs possible, but the center faces an unexpected expense.

Video: Senior Center's Heating Affected By Copper Theft

"It's about a $15,000 problem to correct," said volunteer Mary Ellen England. "Yeah, that makes me angry."

Someone destroyed five heating and air conditioning units by cutting away the copper. As of Tuesday, parts of the building don't have heat, including the room where meals are served to low-income seniors.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of space in this building to shuffle things around. At least for probably the next week, it's going to be cold in portions of this building that serves vital functions," said center director Jane Schnelle. The center has had a string of bad luck lately.

Recently its roof was damaged when the Feb. 5 tornados passed over. It's also had Christmas decorations and a computer stolen.

"You have enough things break on their own, and then for people to come in and destroy or break things, it's really heartbreaking," said England.

About 200 seniors visit the center every day. "It's very disheartening, especially in nonprofit, when you work so hard for every single dime to do vital programs for seniors and then have something like this happen," said Schnelle.

The senior center has insurance, but its director worries it won't cover all of the replacement costs.

The center has a security system for inside the building, and they are looking into purchasing an outdoor system after this recent theft.