Two people were arrested for stealing a tank from an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) training base, Israeli police announced Wednesday.
Israel’s Defense Ministry and police are investigating the theft, the Jerusalem Post reported. The tank was apparently found about 12 miles away from the base at a scrapyard. (RELATED: Marine Corps Finds Wreckage Of Missing $80 Million F-35 Fighter Jet After Sunday ‘Mishap’)
Live update: Two arrested for stealing decommissioned IDF tank from base in northern Israel https://t.co/JiPibi6L4y
— TOI ALERTS (@TOIAlerts) September 20, 2023
The tank was a Merkava Mk 2 that was already decommissioned and had its systems removed years ago, the Times of Israel reported. The IDF sometimes uses decommissioned tanks and other armored vehicles for stationary target practice, Ynet noted.
This is not the first time that a tank was stolen in Israel. Veterans from Israel’s 1973 Yom Kippur War stole a tank from a war memorial site to use as a prop in anti-government protests back in Feb. 16, 2023, Times of Israel reported.
The theft of this tank also comes in the backdrop of a rising crime and violence problem in the country that has been fueled by stolen weaponry from IDF bases, the Jerusalem Post reported.