We’re not sure what the going rate for traffic gates is on the black market, but it must be enough for someone to go through the trouble of lifting the 1,300-pound object from a construction site.
The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports that a thief or group of thieves used a forklift to steal the 22-foot-long gate from a site on the west bank of the Fox River. Police told the paper the bridge was originally used to control traffic on the Don A. Tilleman Bridge.
Police said the thieves used a forklift to load the gate into a vehicle along with 20 sheets of plywood and 20 2x4s. The only logical conclusion is that these thieves are building one heck of a fort.
Jokes aside, the police do want the gate back, though. They say it’s marked with reflective red tape similar to the image above and has a metal power box on one end. Anyone who has seen the gate or knows its whereabouts is asked to contact the Green Bay Area Crime Stoppers.
UPDATE: Thanks to a witness who saw the gate being hauled around, police were able to track down it and the thief responsible, according to a report from Green Bay’s Fox 11. Police were able to find the 54-year-old man and arrest him due to the tracks left by the trailer he was using (also stolen). Due to the extreme weight of the gate, the trailer scraped along the pavement leaving a trail right to the man’s house.
