WEST PARIS — The disappearance of a 53-foot shipping container from the old Penley Mill property in West Paris is being investigated as a theft by the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office.

According to Chief Deputy Hart Daley, the trailer was last seen at a drop yard on the property three weeks ago, but its disappearance wasn’t reported to police until until Nov. 26. The drop yard is used to store empty trailers to be repacked for transport.

The complainant contacted all his vendors and drivers to make sure no one accidentally picked up the wrong trailer by mistake before contacting law enforcement, Daley related.

“For all of our purposes, it seems probable it was stolen,” he said.

Because of the three-week time gap, the Sheriff’s Office did not have an opportunity to recover tire tracks that may have been left at the scene, but the trailer’s description and serial numbers have been entered into the National Crime Information Center, a national criminal justice database.

Daley said another law enforcement agency may come across the trailer and can use the computerized national crime information system to see it was stolen. 

The missing trailer is a White 2008 Great Dane model. According to Daley, no other merchandise was reported stolen, and the trailer is assumed to be empty. A search on truckpaper.com, an online for-sale listing database, found prices for used Great Dane freight trailers from $5,200 for a 1999 model to $20,500 for a 2012 model.

Daley would not release the complainant’s identity. The Penley Mill property is owned by Property Brothers LLC. AAH Fireworks operates a retail store and warehouse on the property. Multiple attempts to contact a representative from AAH on Monday were unsuccessful.

The investigation is continuing.