Residents in a Stockton zip code have reported their mail is being stolen and worry someone may have access to the master postal key. 

"1-06-26. Please do not use. Someone picked the lock and it's broken," read a message left on Joyce Weber's community mailbox Tuesday morning.

This has now forced her and her neighbors on Kimbrough Court to drive to the nearest post office to pick up their mail for the foreseeable future.

"Nobody's getting their mail," Weber said. "I have mostly senior citizens on my court, so I'm going to let them all know to please come over here. I just reported it to the supervisor here at Hammer Ranch [Post Office] again, and she's like, 'It'll take several months for the box to get repaired.' I guess I'll be coming here every week to get my mail."

Residents across the 95209 zip code, from Eight Mile Road to Hammer Lane, are reporting recent theft. It's leaving many worried that someone stole the master postal key.

"My daughter, who lives off of Hammer and Mariners in that subdivision on the lake, they continue to have people breaking in their mailbox," Stockton Resident Debbie Limas shared. "She got her debit card stolen without even knowing that she had came in the mail."

USPS told CBS Sacramento they can't definitively say whether access to any community mailbox units has been compromised, saying postal keys may provide access to certain boxes within an area but not necessarily to every cluster mailbox in a zip code.

They also said they've received no reports of postal keys being stolen from an employee within this zip code.

Neighbors are feeling helpless, especially as tax season gets underway.

"I think if you put up a mailbox and it's damaged, replace the whole thing. Just don't replace the lock or the turn key because people can pick them, so replace the whole thing," Weber said. "I know that costs money, but it's not just our neighborhood, it's everybody's."

With that frustration comes a plea for change.

"I'm not really sure what the answer is, but it's got to be someone else smart enough to figure out how to get around the crooks, somebody smarter than the crooks," Limas shared.

We also reached out to the Stockton Police Department. They said they haven't received any reports of mail theft on Kimbrough Ct, but that could also mean residents went straight to the postal inspector with their case.

If you have felt victim to this crime, it's best to report it to the Postal Inspection Service and local law enforcement.

If that information leads to an arrest, USPIS can give a reward of up to $100,000.