A local Boy Scout troop is dealing with the aftermath of a theft.
Elkhart Boy Scout Troop 750 tells WSBT their trailer filled with camping gear was stolen this week.
They say they are in shock after nearly $10,000 dollars of camping gear was stolen from them.
It had been in the same parking spot as it had been for the last five years.
But earlier this week, that changed, when someone took the trailer from its spot by St. Thomas Church's youth house.
“Thieves look for a trailer, they think it's going to be full of tools, so what a surprise the thieves had when they opened the trailer and there wasn't any tools in there, just a bunch of camping stuff. But the police said they'll probably just swing by a dumpster and throw all that camping stuff in it, because they don't wanna mess with it, there's no money in it for them so that's disheartening,” said Jeff Fullhart, Troop 750 Scoutmaster.
Elkhart Police confirm the case is under investigation.
The thieves took all sorts of camping gear in the trailer, from stoves to lanterns and more.
Fullhart tells WSBT it's been tough on him, and even harder on his scouts.
“They were in shock, they were disappointed...some of them, I don't know that they realize what the scope of the loss is yet, but they know that stuff they worked on. As far as fundraising, that's about $10,000 in loss. That's a lot of fundraising, chicken sales, doing parking here in the school,” said Fullhart.
But Fullhart received some good news.
“A company here in Elkhart called Discovery trailer actually called me yesterday and they donated a new trailer to us, so we're on our way, but of course that's not any of the equipment or stuff that's inside of it,” said Fullhart.
In addition to Discovery's generosity, the local community is doing what they can to come to the rescue of Troop 750.
“We've got people calling from all over, I'm going to go up to Buchanan next week, there's a guy there that was in scouts, that's not in scouts anymore, that has equipment that he's ready to donate, a lot of people are stepping up,” said Fullhart.
If you would like to donate to the troop, a GoFundMe has been started.