HOULTON, Maine — Houlton police are investigating the theft of a backhoe from the town’s cemetery.
Sometime between Saturday, Oct. 21 and Friday, Oct. 27, a person or persons stole a yellow 1987 Caterpillar tractor/backhoe from the cemetery located on Smyrna Street, according to Houlton Police Chief Tim DeLuca.
The tractor, which is valued at about $9,000, was reported missing at about 8:56 a.m. on Oct. 27 by Milton Cone, Houlton’s cemetery director. The tractor is owned by Nickerson Construction and leased to the town for the purpose of digging gravesites at the cemetery.
Tire marks from the tractor lead to a point in front of the cemetery’s maintenance building and then disappear, the chief said, which means the unit likely was loaded onto a trailer and hauled off.
Chief DeLuca said the tractor has been registered with the national database, so that if any individual attempts to register the unit it will come up as stolen property. The license plate on the tractor was 61373.
“So far, we have checked all of the local pits and construction lots to see if the unit was left,” he said. “We ask that if any hunters see the tractor while out in the woods to please let us know. Someone may have abandoned it in the woods.”
Anyone with information about this theft is encouraged to contact the Houlton Police Department at 532-2287.
