LINCOLN, Maine — Police Officer Chad Chubbuck’s employment with the town has ended, and Town Manager Lisa Goodwin doesn’t want to say why.

Chubbuck’s employment ended Tuesday in what Goodwin described only as a “personnel matter.”

“He no longer is employed by the town of Lincoln,” Goodwin said.

Police Chief Phil Dawson could not be reached for comment. Chubbuck did not immediately return an e-mail message sent to him Thursday.

The end of Chubbuck’s employment marks the second time this month that an area police officer’s status has been left cloudy by town officials.

In Millinocket, Police Officer Kevin Ingersoll hasn’t been on duty since September, but Millinocket Town Manager Eugene Conlogue and Millinocket Police Chief Donald Bolduc have declined to say whether Ingersoll has been on paid or unpaid leave. Ingersoll had not returned to duty as of Thursday.

Chubbuck was 31 and a town resident who had been a reserve officer for a year when he joined the Lincoln Police Department in October 2006. He was a former full-time funeral parlor director at Clay’s Funeral Home of Lincoln and graduated from Penobscot Valley High School in Howland in 1993.

Chubbuck earned several commendations during his time on the job. He was making a routine check at FASTCO Corp. off West Broadway on April 24, 2008, when he saw two men loading scrap metal into a maroon van.

After investigating, Chubbuck charged the two men with theft and violation of the conditions of release. Chubbuck and one of the business’s owners, Scott Smith, estimated the two men were in the middle of stealing $300 worth of metal.

Smith and his brother Alan, a co-owner of the business, praised Chubbuck and Lincoln police for their efforts. The 21-year-old company, which helps power plants design, build, repair and install the equipment they depend on, had been burglarized about a half-dozen times over the previous six months, Scott Smith said.

Chubbuck also helped locate a missing 6-year-old girl in May 2008 and was the lead investigator in the probe of a local couple who had passed bad checks in at least seven Penobscot County towns in March 2009.

More recently, Chubbuck had disputed with the Town Council the town’s residency requirements for police, which required officers to live within a certain distance of town limits. He had applied for a waiver, which other officers had received previously, and was rejected.

The council also opted not to amend the policy, citing the need for officers to live in or close to town in case of emergencies.

The town eventually will hire an officer to replace Chubbuck, Goodwin said. The search should begin in a few weeks. Chubbuck’s slot on the police roster will be filled by current and reserve officers working overtime, she said.

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