Czech bridge theft

[John Ashworth]

1. Czech police investigate railway bridge theft

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
AFP
The China Post

PRAGUE -- Police in the western Czech border town of Cheb have launched an investigation into the theft of a four-tonne railway bridge. "We are not sure if it was taken for personal use or for its scrap value," police spokeswoman Martina Hruskova told AFP. "It is the first time we have dealt with this type of theft."

The company charged with looking after the bridge, which was on a disused stretch of track near the town, raised the alarm, Hruskova said.

2. Bridge theft
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Dom's Weird News

Police in the Czech republic are trying to find out who stole a 4 tonne railway bridge from the border town of Cheb.

The company which was responsible for looking after the bridge raised the alarm when, ever alert, they noticed that the bridge wasn't there any more.

The bridge was on a disused stretch of line just outside Cheb.

Martina Hruskova, a spokeswoman for the Czech police, commented to AFP: 'We are not sure if it was taken for personal use or for its scrap value.' Exactly what that 'personal use' might be was left unsaid.

'It is the first time we have dealt with this type of theft,' she added.

Of course, it's not the first time some light-fingered bridge enthusiast has made off with a bridge. At least two bridges have been nicked in Russia in the past six months, and a pair of bridge thieves appropriated two Macedonian bridges last February.

[John Ashworth]

South Africans who believe they have the most creative thieves in the world must surely be impressed by this?!