The infantry unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord was placed on lockdown Wednesday after the equipment was discovered missing from a supply area, said Major Chris Ophardt, a spokesman for the U.S. Army’s I Corps at the base. The equipment included weapon sights and targeting lasers.

“There are many items missing,” Ophardt said, adding that the equipment was “definitely stolen.” He said no weapons are missing, and there is no danger to the public.

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The base is located about nine miles south of Tacoma.

Lockdown means the soldiers are confined to the barracks and office areas of the unit, so they can’t go home if they have families outside of barracks. On Saturday, lockdown was changed to restriction, which means the soldiers’ families can visit them, Ophardt said.

A criminal investigation has been launched, and a $10,000 reward offered.

The unit has been home from Iraq since September 2010.

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Colleen Jenkins)

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Source: Reuters US Online Report Domestic News

Image by United States Army (http://info.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/index.htm) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons