Red-faced Hampshire County Council officials admitted this week that they managed to steal their own bollards.
The ÔbungleÕ centred around five cast iron bollards that were erected in The Square, Petersfield, as part of the townÕs face-lift.
Bemused county council contractors working in The Square returned after the weekend of January 25/26 to find the bollards had disappeared.
They reported the theft to Petersfield Police who immediately began contacting scrap yards in a bid to track down the missing items.
But both parties were puzzled by the disappearance, not least because the bollards have a combined weight of 250kg.
Little did police or the contractors know that the bollards were safe and well.
A Hampshire County Council highwayÕs superintendent had walked past the bollards on Saturday, January 25 and deemed them a safety hazard.
He contacted an emergency contractor, Raynesway, in Bedford Road, and asked them to take the bollards into storage.
Graham Hooker, of Raynesway, said: ÒWe had an emergency call at 8-20 pm to pick them up because they were frightened that they would be stolen.Ó
But Mr Hooker was amazed to read in the paper the following week that the bollards had been pinched.
ÒI was surprised to read it in the paper and called the police,Ó he said.
Petersfield Police have now closed their investigations and said it was good to get another crime off the books.