HOSTENSE, Ga. --
Where's Smokey?
That's what Fire Chief Michael Carver of the Hortense Volunteer Fire Department wants to know.
"Smokey the Bear is missing. He's gone and we would love to have him back home where he belongs," Carver told the Times-Union on Tuesday.
Last Friday night, someone stole the handcrafted, 6-foot tall wooden Smokey Bear cut-out that was bolted to a 7-foot wide wildfire danger sign outside their fire station, Carver said.
It was the latest in a series of Smokey-snatchings in Brantley County, said Chief Ranger Barry Rowell of the Georgia Forestry Commission unit in the county.
Rowell said another Smokey Bear was stolen earlier this year from its fire danger post at the Waynesville Volunteer Fire Department.
"We used to have one outside our office here, but it was stolen so many times that we finally gave up and stopped replacing it," Rowell said. "We just couldn't afford to do it."
Four of the unit's bears were stolen in as many years. Only one was recovered, but "it was all tore up," Rowell said.
The Brantley bear heists began a couple of years ago, after the forest rangers made the signs for fire departments in the county, he said.
"I really don't understand why someone is taking them, unless it's just for mischief," Rowell said.
Signs bearing the wildfire prevention icon have been targeted at forestry commission offices in neighboring counties, rangers said.
"It's aggravating because these are very hard to come by," said Chief Ranger Mark McClellan of the commission's Glynn County unit based near Sterling.
Until Smokey was moved inside a barbed wire-topped chain link fence at the unit about 2-1/2 years ago, thieves ripped off its attachable signs stating "high" and "very high," which are used to describe the daily fire danger, McClellan said.
Rowell said it costs about $100 in materials to make each Smokey. Rangers fashioned the bears from 3/4-inch thick plywood that was then painted and had decals applied to replicate each bear's features, Carver said.
"For some reason, kids love them," said Carver, who suspects youths might have taken the bear to decorate their room, or as a prank.
Prank or not, it's a crime, said District Attorney Rick Currie of the Waycross Judicial Circuit, which includes Brantley County.
Based on Smokey's value -- under $500 -- the theft would be a misdemeanor under Georgia law. It would be punishable by up to 12 months in jail, or a fine up to $1,000, Currie said.
However, damaging or destroying government property carries one to five years in prison, according to the law.
The offenders will be prosecuted, Currie promised.
Carver just wants the bear back, intact.
"I just hope someone will see it and return it to us," Carver said.
