On the morning of Tuesday Oct. 18, Staples security guard David Sweet discovered the gate at connecting Bedford and Staples had been stolen during the night, and Westport Police were called to the scene.

“Why someone would do that, I don’t know,” Westport Police Captain Sam Arciola said.

While the motivation for stealing the gate is unknown, Assistant Principal Richard Franciz recognizes it is possible that the high cost of scrap metal may be at the root of the theft.

“In this economy all you have to do is pick up the newspaper to see that people are taking metal from all over the place and selling it,” Franciz said.

Franciz sent an email entitled  to Staples staff members informing them of the missing gate, and encouraging them to report any information they may have regarding the incident.

Police have searched the length of the driveway as well as the surrounding woods, to see if the taking the gate was an act of vandalism, or indeed a theft. Police and Staples custodians who searched the area found no evident of the gate except except four screws where the gate was located.

“Each half of the gate is seven or eight feet long, so whoever did this took a pretty big risk in taking it,” Franciz said. “They definitely used a sophisticated set of tools to get it off because the brackets are missing too.”

Currently there are no suspects and no arrests have been made but the investigation will continue, said Arciola.