Unidentified miscreants broke into Syayambhu Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple, a historic temple at Malladi village in Amaravathi mandal, in the early hours of Thursday and made away with the hundi.
CCTV images revealed the presence of two persons in black shirts and trousers trying to lift the huge hundi.
The CCTV images later showed another person joining the duo.
The empty hundi was later found at a short distance from the temple.
Police said the unidentified miscreants came in the guise of Ayappa Swamy devotees.
A case has been registered based on the complaint by temple trustee P. Ashok.