A stolen piece of history is on the loose, and U.S. Forest Service officials want it back.
On Tuesday, they put out a call for help in getting back a half-track military vehicle that has been part of an exhibit at the Dixie National Forest in Utah.
“A historic Half-track military vehicle stolen from the Dixie National Forest in an area managed by the Fishlake National Forest was last seen in Kane County, Utah. Law enforcement investigators continue to request public assistance locating it and the truck and trailer used to haul it out of the forest,” the Forest Service posted on the Fishlake National Forest Facebook page.
Authorities know what took it but not who — and they are asking the public for help.
“Police are searching for a white Dodge Ram 2500 Heavy-Duty pickup truck with gold trim. It has two black screen grates over the grill on the front and after-market tires with custom rims. The Ram was pulling a PJ-brand gooseneck trailer,” the post said.
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“The missing historic machine is a White Motor Co., USA Half-track military vehicle illegally removed from the Boulder Mountain Row Lakes area between Friday, June 21st, and Saturday, June 22nd,” it said.
Forest Service officials continued, “Thanks to the help of dozens of other citizen responses, Law Enforcement tracked the vehicle from its original location on Boulder Mountain through Escalante and Henrieville. From there, it was spotted near Glendale, on Highway 89. The last known sighting was near Coral Pink Sand Dunes. It is believed the vehicle has ties to Colorado City.”
The post said the vehicle was a bit of local history because it was used by the father of Utah state Rep. Carl Albrecht to haul logs.
Will this vehicle be found?
“The last year he logged was on top of Boulder Mountain,” Albrecht recalled in the post. “He had the largest mill in Wayne County. There were four mills in Bicknell and nine in the whole county. The crew lived on a school bus, and I was in the fourth or fifth grade.”
The post said the half-track was part of “a historic archaeological site determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.”
“Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Forest Service Intermountain Region Investigative Analyst Robert Smith at 775-420-1479 (cell) or email him at robert.smith5@usda.gov,” the post said.
One poster said the theft was just fine with him.
“Oh heavens no! Someone took that poor machine that the government was rightfully letting rot away in the elements! Hopefully they don’t restore it and take care of it!” a poster using the name Darren Shackleford wrote.
A June 25 post had said the vehicle was “one of 15,414 made by the White Motor Co. for the Department of Defense between 1939 and 1943.”
It also noted that taking the vehicle is against the law protecting archeological sites.
“The theft of this vehicle is a clear violation of this law, and we urge the public to understand the gravity of this situation,” the post said.
“The Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 strictly forbids anyone from removing archaeological resources from federal land. It also prohibits any sales, purchase, exchange, transport, or receipt of such resources,” it said.
