NEW SHARON — A Franklin County sheriff’s deputy was investigating the theft of a fifth catalytic converter on Tuesday after four others were cut out of vehicles this past week.

A catalytic converter was stolen from this vehicle early Tuesday after it was parked in an area at the intersection of U.S. Route 2 and Cape Cod Hill Road in New Sharon. It is the fifth converter stolen in the past week in New Sharon, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said Tuesday. Franklin County Sheriff’s Office photo

The Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help to solve the crime.

Four converters were stolen from Tuttle’s Auto on U.S. Route 2/state Route 27, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said Tuesday.

A truck driver left his car at a parking area at 3 a.m. Tuesday near the bridge at the intersection of Cape Cod Hill Road and U.S. Route 2. The driver picked up a tractor-trailer truck parked there. The car was then stolen between 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., Nichols said.

The person who took the car drove it to a boat launch near Muddy Brook, on the other side of Main Street. When it was found, the catalytic converter had been removed, he said.

Anyone who saw someone around the vehicle during that time or noticed anything else suspicious is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 207-778-2680 and ask for Deputy Andrew Morgan.

Any vehicle left overnight that is out in the open is a potential target for a catalytic converter to be stolen, Nichols said.

A battery-operated reciprocating saw was used to quickly cut out the converters, he said.