While the Woodbury firefighters were at the carnival on Friday, Aug. 31, three teenagers allegedly sawed off the two wooden Smokey the Bears from the fire alert sign at .
The bears were later found on the soccer field at Shepaug High School, Fire Chief Janet Morgan told Patch on Tuesday, Sept. 4.
"The sad part is that , a veteran fire member, made them for us," she said. "It was one of his last projects."
Thomas is in his 90s and can't fix the bears, Morgan said.
"I texted the fire department members this morning," she said, adding that the firefighters paid for the bears out of their own funds. "They were heartbroken."
Morgan said the police are handling the case now.
"Hopefully, when they go to juvenile court, there will be restitutions," she said.
The investigation yielded the revelation that taking the bears was on the teenagers' bucket list of things to do before the summer ended.
"Maybe they should've had a different bucket list," Morgan said.
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