Last year, Missouri’s St. Louis County Parks Department bought a $56,000 sawmill to help conquer small projects. Fallen trees were quickly transformed planks used to build, rebuild, or fix county-owned structures. County workers have even used it to build benches, saving hundreds on premium wood.

It proved to be incredibly valuable for the department.

“We purchased this so we could better utilize urban wood waste instead of just putting it into a dump,” Jason Pratte, a Forestry worker with the county, told FOX 2. “We kept it under lock and key—what we believed was a secure location.”

So imagine their surprise when someone still managed to steal it from its storage site, a locked and fairly hidden building. Since it was so valuable to the county, Pratte installed a $20 Apple AirTag on it. At first, it proved to be in vain.

“It always said no location found, no location found. I was starting to give up hope,” said Pratte.

The sawmill was gone for three months

County workers feared the worst, as the AirTag didn’t release GPS data without an iPhone nearby. But that changed when it was sold for an “unbelievable” price.

The man was approached by police shortly after the AirTag was activated. The buyer was sad to discover the sawmill was stolen but cooperated with police to find the seller.

“He gave us the information, the gentleman who sold it to him for an unbelievable price,” said Detective Andrew Lucca. When police arrived at the seller’s property, they found he’d stolen much more than a sawmill.

“Other items that were stolen from the Lou Fusz soccer fields, in plain view, including stolen golf carts (and) a John Deere Gator UTV,” added Lucca. They also found two Bobcat skid loaders that were reported stolen from other counties.

“Just a $20 AirTag tracker is what led, really, to this case being solved,” remarked county worker Tim Emmons.

Robert D. Crutcher and Melissa Faix are now being processed and charged for stealing from four counties.