Thief carried off kilometres of disused railway track in Lapland
Suspect persuaded local volunteers to take part in demolition work
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One of the stranger thefts in recent Finnish history took place in Salla in Lapland in July of this year.
Several kilometres of railway track were liberated by locals, acting in good faith on the instructions of a man posing as a contractor.
The case came to light when a maintenance crew from the Finnish Rail Administration made a routine inspection of the track leading from Kelloselkä to the border with Russia.
According to police reports, a man posing as a contractor had persuaded local residents to help in prising free the lengths of track, on a stretch of line that has not been in use since World War II.
The volunteers were acting in good faith, and had no idea that they were involved in anything illegal, reports Inspector Kauko Lahtela from the Kemijärvi Police Department, heading the investigation.
The thief was able to tear up and remove around half of the seven-kilometre stretch of line.
The individual rails, each weighing around a ton, were taken by tractor to a nearby road. From there they were transported in three instalments by truck to Oulu, where they were sold for scrap.
Each load weighed around 40 tons and was worth in the region of EUR 13,000.
According to police, the thief will have to compensate the owner of the rails - the Finnish state - for the loss.
Under suspicion is a 51-year-old man who moved to the area some time ago and who is a construction explosives expert by profession. He had contacted the Rail Administration and suggested tearing up the disused section of track. No permission was forthcoming.
In the background to the incident is a considerable rise in the value of scrap metal, says chief inspector Teemu Poussu of the Rail Administration. The tempting prospect of something like 40,000 euros worth of metal lying idle has sparked the creative imagination.
The entire case is unprecedented in Finland, but apparently there have been similar incidents in Germany before now.
The matter was first reported in the newspaper Keskisuomalainen on Wednesday.
The disused railway section in question was built on the orders of the Soviet Union immediately after the Winter War of 1939-40. Salla itself is the terminus of a freight-only railway line from Kemijärvi.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 14.8.2008 - TODAY |
 Thief carried off kilometres of disused railway track in Lapland |
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