3-ton hammer missing from Massapequa Park site

A heavy-duty hammer weighing more than 3 tons is missing, and its owners are worried the thieves might be trying to sell it for scrap.

"This is not something two guys could throw in the back of a pickup," said Eric Sorensen, a dispatcher at Bove Industries, which owns the hammer. "It would break the truck."

The piece of equipment, known as a vibratory sheeting hammer, uses vibration to drive sheets of metal into the ground, typically while mounted on a crane. The hammer, which is less than a year old and was made by a Dutch company, is believed to have been stolen some time overnight on Sept. 11 from a construction site at Sunrise Highway and Lake Grove Drive in Massapequa Park, Sorensen said.

The East Setauket construction company is working for Nassau County at the Massapequa Preserve on a storm drainage improvement project.

The bright yellow hammer, about 5 feet long, 5 feet tall and 18 inches wide, was with several other pieces of equipment at the site and was not secured. Sorensen said it was assumed that the equipment would be too heavy for a thief to lift.

Whoever took the hammer either plans to scrap it or has connections to sell it, Sorensen said. "It's a very heavy piece of metal," he said.

The company is offering a reward of $5,000 for information leading to the hammer's return and a message about the theft was broadcast on traffic signs on Sunrise Highway. Nassau police confirmed details of the theft and put the value of the hammer at $120,000. The hammer is marked with the company name.