WW I Cannon Stolen from Michigan VFW Post

Members of a Michigan Veterans of Foreign Wars post want their World War I cannon back before someone sells it for scrap metal.

The vintage piece of artillery was stolen from the lawn of VFW Post 1137 in Benton Township, located in southwest Michigan, Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, The Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph reported Thursday.

“Our fear is the scrap yard,” Robert Williams, adjutant quartermaster of the VFW post, told the newspaper. “Who’s going to put that in their yard.”

The cannon, which was used overseas during the “Great War,” has been a fixture at the VFW building since 1976. It’s between 12 and 14 feet long, has a heavy metal barrel and wooden spokes on the wheels. It wasn’t bolted down to the concrete slab where it sat for the past nearly four decades, and it doesn’t have a firing pin.

Benton Township police are baffled, but are notifying scrap yards to be on the lookout for the historic piece of military hardware.

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If there’s any good news for the veterans, it’s that the cannon may not be easy for the thieves to unload, Benton Township Patrolman Scott Schalf told The Herald-Palladium.

Most scrap dealers may ask for proof of ownership under a tough Michigan law aimed at deterring scrapping, which has reached epidemic proportions in rural and urban areas. Michigan is one of the top states in the nation for the number of insurance claims from scrap metal thefts, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The new law creates a paper trail that includes photos and documentation of scrappers who bring in scrap metal and requires that payments of more than $25 be mailed. But the law only apply to catalytic converters, air-conditioning units and copper.

Benton Township is located just north of the state line to Indiana, and Williams is worried it may have been taken out of state to be sold. Indiana has toughened its scrapping laws, too.