UPDATE: The rifle bag and all of its contents have been safely returned to the Salem Police Department, CBS Boston reports. A NECN reporter tweeted this photo of the couple who returned the weapon:

This couple brought the lost rifle back to Salem Police. They say their neighbor found it on side of road. @NECN pic.twitter.com/5GnHis81uu — Katherine Underwood (@KatherineNECN) January 7, 2015

ORIGINAL STORY:

To be fair, most of us have done this before—albeit with a cup of coffee rather than a semi-automatic rifle.

A Salem, N.H., police officer lost his department-issued patrol carbine when he drove off after leaving it on the trunk of his cruiser. Now the department is looking for the missing weapon.

The department said in a statement that the officer placed the rifle, in its black canvas carrying bag, on the trunk of the cruiser while he prepared the car for duty around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. The officer, who was dispatched to several calls throughout the day, and believes the rifle fell off the car as he left the parking lot of the police station. It was only upon ending his shift a good eight hours later that he noticed the rifle was missing and notified his superiors.


The statement said the rifle is believed to have fallen off near the department’s depot area or around the Howard Street block, the first area where the officer responded to a call.

The missing rifle is a Colt M4 Commando, which Colt’s website describes as being “designed to exploit firepower capability in confined spaces where lightweight mobility, speed and violence of action rule.’’ Salem police told Boston.com that each officer in the department is issued a rifle.

Police said they believe it has been picked up by someone who doesn’t know what to do with it. If anyone finds the rifle, the department says he should call Salem police at (603) 893-1911, and they will pick it up “with no questions asked.’’ It also noted he can drop it off at any local gun shop or safe place if he is not comfortable turning it in to the police department.

“We fully understand the significant public safety risk posed by the loss of this rifle,’’ the department said in a statement. “This is undoubtedly a failure to follow established policy and procedures. We are embarrassed as an agency and no one feels worse than the officer who lost the bag.’’


“There are severe penalties for possessing this weapon without the express approval granted by the BATFE,’’ the statement continued. BATFE is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

When asked about the penalties for the officer who lost it, Salem police said there was an internal investigation launched into the matter this morning, and that they could not comment.