Editor,

When our State Parks took the Gov. Jay Inslee’s directed steps in support of suppressing the current crisis, Fort Casey State Park turned off the lights, secured the buildings/latrines and locked the gates. Only rangers and maintenance personnel remain.

That, however, has not prevented people from walking and hiking in the park.

Unfortunately, tagging dramatically increased and thievery have occurred. The new elevation wheel on the 10-inch gun carriage no. 2 at Battery Worth was dismounted and disappeared last week. A subsequent search of the park by selected volunteers and Rangers was negative.

An incident report has been written by State Parks and, hopefully, law enforcement was informed as well. It takes several tools and assembly knowledge to remove the wheel so it’s assumed advanced planning occurred.

Stealing is bad enough, but this elevation wheel and its mate — now chain locked on the gun carriage — are extra special. They were constructed by the Oak Harbor High School shop class over a two-year period. The students had to determine all the part dimensions from a single 110-year-old drawing of the gun carriage, where the only dimensional scale is at the bottom of the drawing. Their exceptional historically accurate work was nationally recognized.

Description: It looks like a ships wheel, about 3 feet in diameter, made of steel, painted green and weighs approximately 50 pounds.

If you have any information, please contact State Parks, law enforcement. Or, better still, if it just shows up unannounced, that would even be better.

Steven J Kobylk

Fort Casey Volunteer Battalion,

Restoration SME

Coast Defense Study Group

Whidbey Field Representative