Logs Stolen From Ramapough Tribe's Ceremonial Grounds: Police

MAHWAH, N.J. - Three pieces of a longhouse were reported stolen from the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation's property Sunday afternoon, police said.

The property at 95 Halifax Road is the tribe's ceremonial grounds. The tribe uses the Long House for spiritual rituals throughout the year.

The tribe's chief, Dwaine Perry, reported the thefts to the police.

The three logs were six to eight feet long and stolen within the past two weeks, Chief James N. Batelli said. Authorities concluded that some type of "machinery, mechanical device, or several people" would have been needed to remove the logs.

Several months ago, someone left a note in wood chips on a slate slab that read "these logs will be gone soon," police said. The chief said the police were never notified of the original claim that someone had left the note. That note was not intact during the police department's investigation at the scene Sunday, Batelli said.

The Ramapough Conservancy, an environmental watchdog group, posted about the incident on its Facebook page. Sunday.

The group said that it would call the state Attorney General's Office Monday to report the incident as a hate crime.

Anyone with information should call the Mahwah Police Department at 201-529-1000.