WALDO, Maine — A cord and a half of firewood destined to warm the homes of needy Waldo County residents was stolen Monday, according to Bob MacGregor of the Waldo County Woodshed.
The $400 or so worth of clean, split ash was going to be divided among more than eight families to get them through the week, he said Monday evening.
“We’ve raised $2,500. Gone through the whole process of incorporating as a nonprofit. We’ve bought 15 cords of wood to hand out. Now, we’re back to square one,” MacGregor said. “Anybody who would go in and take two pickup truck loads of work was not working with us. They’re working against us.”
He said he discovered the theft at 3:30 p.m. Monday. He had brought the wood on Saturday to the private land in Waldo where the landowner is allowing the nonprofit to store its firewood, and it was covered with more than 8 inches of snow from the snowstorm that night.
MacGregor said the landowner saw a bearded man and a woman come by Monday in a beat-up black GMC pickup truck, making two trips to load the vehicle with firewood. The landowner assumed the duo was there legitimately and did not suspect they were stealing the firewood.
“It had to be someone who knew the wood was there,” MacGregor wrote on the nonprofit’s Facebook page. “It isn’t visible from the road and it was under eight inches of new snow … Words cannot express my disgust and disappointment tonight. Who does something this low?”
He reported the theft of what he described as the “prettiest firewood in Waldo County” to the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office.
To reach a police official regarding the firewood theft, call 338-2040. For information about the Waldo County Woodshed, visit www.waldocountywoodshed.org or call 338-4377.