Strange problem using "If"

Hey,

I've been encountering a strange problem with a function when using "if".

A bit of context: I'm using this to move objectA to another object in the level(that's stored in "locationSet" SimSet). Everything works fine, except the objectA will only move to the first object in the locationSet SimSet and then the loop breaks:

function addStuff(%area, %item)
{
   switch$(%item)
   {
      case "Bear":
         for(%i = 1; %i <= 2; %i++)
         {
            
            //scan all locations to find specific location
            for(%locationIndex = 0; %locationIndex < locationSet.getCount(); %locationIndex++)
            {               
               if(locationSet.getObject(%locationIndex).ID == %area@%i)
               {
                  %that.moveTo(locationSet.getObject(%locationIndex).Position, 20, true, true);
                  
                  break;
               }
               else
               {
                  echo("Could not find the location");
               }
            }

            //... rest of code

The problem is this line:

if(locationSet.getObject(%locationIndex).ID == %area@%i)

I've echoed the "locationSet.getObject(%locationIndex).ID" and "%area@%i" and both values are "North1" and "South2" respectively, but the game assumes both values are equal. I'm sure it's user error on my part, so can anyone help point out the mistake?

Many thanks!