COLUMBIA (WACH) -- Officials are searching for a suspect, or suspects, involved in stealing a large amount of state owned equipment from a Columbia storage site.
The South Carolina Forestry Commission says around $100,000 worth of gear was taken from the agency's maintenance and storage area on Broad River Road between December 23 and 27.
The thieves got away with a Ford F350 flatbed diesel truck, two ATVs, 13 laptops, along with generators, welding equipment and other tools.
SCFC officials say with tough budgetary times that the state is facing, it may be a while before this equipment can be replaced.
“This is a crime not just against our agency, but against the citizens of South Carolina” says Scott Hawkins, SCFC Public Information Director. “We’ve built up our Incident Management Team over time and acquired much of the gear with one-time-only Homeland Security grants.”
SCFC’s law enforcement division, Columbia Police and SLED are cooperating on the investigation.
Contact CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC if you have any information that may help investigators.
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