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WINTHROP

June 3, 2010

Theft of gate has man 'flabbergasted'

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

WINTHROP -- Thieves made off with the long arms of a gate erected to block four-wheel and all-terrain vehicles from trails along the back side of Mount Pisgah.

The Kennebec Land Trust is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the conviction of those who stole it.

The theft was reported Friday, according to Winthrop police Capt. Ryan Frost.

"We are investigating and hoping the public may have seen something," Frost said.

Officer Paul Ferland is investigating the theft. The gate is approximately 12 feet long and made from 7-inch round pipe.

The gate on Bog Road was installed last November by members of the Winthrop Hillandaler's Snowmobile Club for the Kennebec Land Trust.

Jim Connors, steward of the Kennebec Land Trust's 700-acre Mt. Pisgah properties, said he last saw the gate in place around May 14. When he rechecked the area last Friday, it was gone.

"I was quite flabbergasted at the sight," Connors said, "I couldn't believe they had come so obviously prepared to cut bolts, lift gates out of its fixture and carry it off. It's heavy."

Before reporting it stolen, he did some searching of the area.

"I expected to find it smashed or crashed or pushed over or bent," Connors said. "It's just unbelievable.

"I imagine they're trying to sell it as scrap metal," he said. "It's a lot of weight; it's solid steel pretty heavy gauge metal."

Connors said a rope and a sign now hang in place of the gate arms.

He said the erecting the gate was a community effort. The gate was donated, snowmobilers used their equipment to put it in, and a nearby neighbor donated the cement.

Anyone with information is asked to call Winthrop police at 377-7226.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

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