PARCHMENT, Mich. -- A Boy Scout troop in Kalamazoo County is without its trailer and equipment after they say someone stole it from a church parking lot.
The Parchment Boy Scout troop #218 is the second troop to have their trailer stolen this year in Kalamazoo County. The Galesburg Boy Scout troop had their trailer stolen in February.
Members of Troop #218 say they were devastated when they heard what happened. Thousands of dollars of equipment was inside that trailer. Now, they are scrambling to try and figure out how to raise money and get new equipment for all of their events this year.
"Our trailer was gone," said assistant scout manager Molly Morgan.
Morgan says the trailer was parked in the parking lot at the Parchment United Methodist Church.
"It's a white haulmark 12x6 trailer," said Morgan.
It was stolen sometime between 2 p.m. on Sunday and 6 p.m. Monday. The troop discovered it was missing when they showed up for their first meeting of the year Monday night.
"All I know is the trailer has been taken," said Eagle Scout Zachary Cushman. "One of our scout masters dropped off some gear, went to do our first meeting of the year and it was gone by then."
Inside the trailer was thousands of dollars worth of camping equipment. Also inside was the troop's coveted flag with more than 20 years of awards on it.
"They're pretty devastated in general," said Cushman. "Everyone in the troop is devastated."
"It's very upsetting to me because we've worked so hard and we're a small troop," said Morgan. "That's how we continue to live the Boy Scout way and it's unfortunate that not everyone does that."
Now the troop is trying to figure out how to continue with its planned camping trip at the end of the month.
"There is a camp-out planned for possibly later this month actually, but if we were going to do that on our own we can't do that because all of our gear is missing," said Cushman.
The troop is hoping to get their equipment back or raise money to buy new equipment.
"I just want our gear back," said Cushman. "I want to be able to go on camping trips properly. I just want to be able to deal with it."
The troop has filed a police report, but police have not had any luck finding the trailer. The church does not have surveillance video from the parking lot.
The troop has set up a Go Fund Me page to try and raise money for new equipment.
