Thieves snatch Petty guitars

Tom Petty performs with a Rickenbacker guitar as part of the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2006.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Police are investigating the theft of five guitars


• Three of them were vintage guitars from the 1960s


• The band's tour begins this week


• Tom Petty was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002

(Entertainment News) -- For classic rocker Tom Petty the waiting is the hardest part after were stolen from a soundstage where the Heartbreakers were rehearsing for their upcoming U.S. tour.

A $ 7,500 reward is being offered for the return of the guitars, including a vintage 1967 Rickenbacker, a 1967 Epiphone and a 1965 Gibson.

"Sometimes people make mistakes, but we'd like these back," Petty said on his Friday. "no questions asked."

Police in Culver City, California, are investigating the theft.

Both as a solo artist and leader of the Heartbreakers, Petty is one of , selling more than 57 million albums, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

Among his hits are "Refugee," "American Girl," "Free Fallin'" and "The Waiting."

The band's tour is set to start Wednesday in Colorado.