Somebody went to great lengths to steal a piece of Limestone County history and a county commissioner would like to have it back.

The News Courier earlier this month published an update about the Old Highway 20 bridge, which has been closed to the public since Christmas Day 2015. Last week, a reader brought it to our attention that a historic marker from the bridge had been stolen and District 3 Commissioner Jason Black verified it.

The plaque was installed by the WPA, better known as the Work Progress Administration. The agency was formed out of the New Deal agency as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration.

The Old Highway 20 bridge was a WPA project and a brass plaque was affixed to the bridge denoting it as such. The bridge on Snake Road was also a WPA project and has a similar plaque attached.

Black said it was a little more than a month after the Old Highway 20 bridge closed that he noticed the plaque, which measured about 6 inches square, was missing.

“Someone took a chisel or hammer and busted it out,” he said. “Somebody went to a whole lot of trouble to do it.”

Black didn’t make a formal theft report with the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office but instead called the local metal recycling plants so they could be on the lookout. He said the marker on the Snake Road bridge is likely safe because it’s obscured by a guardrail, making it nearly impossible to get to.

He would like to have the marker back if anyone knows where it is. He believes it should be displayed at the Limestone County Archives because it’s part of history.

Anyone with any information about the marker should call Black at 256-777-5028.