SAN ANTONIO -- A 15-year-old deaf boy's hearing device worth an estimated $10,000 was stolen at school Monday.

Anthony Rojas had taken the device off and placed it in his backpack during PE class at MacArthur High School when he discovered it was missing.

Rojas had been relying on the device to hear and talk since he had a cochlear implant placed behind his right ear two years ago.

"He's just barely learning to say cat, book, bag and little simple words," said Maria Rojas, the boy's mother. "We take it for granted that we have hearing and they depend on those devices to hear any little simple word."

Maria Rojas said without the hearing device, her son can't hear anything.

"I don't know who would do that. He's disabled."

She also said that she can't afford another device.

"If somebody out there ... would please return it to my son so he can be able to hear," she said.