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Officials in Alabama were stunned to learn that thieves managed to steal an entire 200-foot radio tower. The tower was reported missing last week when a local radio station sent a landscaping crew to clean up the area near the transmitter in the town of Jasper.
Brett Elmore, the station's owner, couldn't believe it when a worker called him and said the tower was gone.
"What do you mean the tower is gone? Are you sure you're in the right place? I actually used more colorful words than that," Elmore recounted to NBC News. "He said there's wires all over the ground, and the tower is gone."
In addition to stealing the tower, the thieves also broke into a nearby building and stole all of the equipment inside.
"I have tried all weekend to figure it out, and I just can't. I have been in the radio business, around it all my life, and then in it professionally for 26 years, and I can say I have never heard of anything like this. I can say I've seen it all now," Elmore told WBRC.
Even local officials are stumped by the theft.
"There was a meeting yesterday between the owner and our investigators concerning the matter," Jasper Mayor David O'Mary told NBC News. "At this point, we are still lacking information that we have to have to conduct a full-fledged investigation."
Anybody with information about the theft is asked to contact the Jasper Police Department at 205-221-2121.