Holy smoke! Los Angeles County Fire personnel are searching for a smoking gun after their beloved Smokey Bear was stolen from the Fire Danger sign outside Fire Station 99 overnight on Tuesday.
The sign, which featured a 72-inch tall two-sided Smokey Bear mascot — he faced both eastbound and westbound traffic — was removed from the fire station by unknown thieves overnight, reported a memo sent Wednesday.
“[The memo] reported the sign was complete on the 10th, and on the 11th it was noticed it was missing,” Captain Marcus Bestwick told The Malibu Times.
Fire Station 99 is located on the far west side of Malibu, just west of El Matador State Beach.
Bestwick said the department wasn’t necessarily expecting the thieves to repent.
“Usually they don’t come back, once they’re gone,” Bestwick said. “People have them, probably already sitting in their dorm room or living room or patio, or right next to the dart board or something.”
That’s not to say Smokey wouldn’t be welcomed home.
“If someone could return it, that would be great. We would appreciate it,” Bestwick said. “No harm, no foul, just but it back close to there, that would be nice.
That thing’s been around here on this building for quite some time. He’s kind of a fixture, so he’s missed. Smokey is missed around here,” Bestwick said.
If they can’t smoke out the criminals and get Smokey back, Bestwick said, Deputy Forester David Whitney of the L.A. County Fire Forestry Division will begin work on a replacement bear to again stand sentinel over Fire Station 99.
