The stolen Musheng Bridge

　　Have you heard of stealing chickens and dogs, stealing mobile phones and wallets, stealing electric bikes... but have you ever heard of stealing a bridge? On the night of July 11, this scene occurred in Yanjiajiao Village, Qianyuan Community, Yuhang Economic Development Zone, Hangzhou. That night, some villagers heard the rumbling sound of a crane but didn't pay much attention, thinking it was construction work. Unexpectedly, the next day they discovered that a century-old stone slab bridge in the village had vanished into thin air. After three weeks of investigation, local police finally found the stone bridge. Yesterday, Hangzhou police announced the detailed circumstances of the case.

　　Century-old stone bridge stolen, only piers left facing each other

　　"I heard the old bridge at the village entrance was stolen, I couldn't believe it." On the morning of July 12, villager Mr. Yan was returning home from buying groceries when he heard neighbors discussing that the old bridge was gone. Mr. Yan didn't believe it and ran to the village entrance to check, and was shocked! The old stone slab bridge, which originally spanned the river with a length of over 20 meters, was gone, leaving only two stone piers on the riverbanks facing each other across the river. The bridge body had vanished.

　　This old stone slab bridge is named "Musheng Bridge". It is a two-pier, three-span stone slab bridge, over 2 meters wide and over 20 meters long.

　　85-year-old Grandpa Yan said that this bridge has been there since he was born. It used to be the only way to the south of the village, but later, as roads were built, fewer people used the bridge. However, this old bridge carries the emotions and memories of the villagers. It was built with donations from the villagers and is estimated to be about a hundred years old.

　　Seventy-ton crane lifts away century-old bridge

　　On July 13, villager Mr. Yan reported the case to the Shuguang Road Police Station. Hearing that the bridge was stolen, the police were also very surprised and immediately launched an investigation. Through days of video analysis, two trucks with high suspicion were initially identified. In the early hours of August 1, the task force suddenly took action and arrested suspects Chen and Wang in Yuhang and Linping.

　　According to Chen's confession, he was short of money recently and set his sights on this old bridge in Qianyuan Community. He contacted a stone dealer, and Chen would dismantle the bridge and transport it to a stone dealership in Puyuan, Tongxiang, where the other party would pay him 40,000 yuan. Chen found Wang, who was in the crane business. Wang thought it was profitable and agreed to use a 70-ton crane to lift the old bridge for Chen for 8,000 yuan. Subsequently, he called two trucks to help transport the dismantled stone slabs. On the night of July 11, Chen used Wang's crane to dismantle the bridge. The entire bridge body was broken down into more than 30 stone slabs. The two trucks traveled overnight and delivered the bridge to the stone dealership in Puyuan, Tongxiang, just before dawn, where Chen received 40,000 yuan.

　　On the afternoon of August 1, the police, together with Director Shen of Qianyuan Village and villager Mr. Yan, rushed to the stone storage yard of the stone dealership in Puyuan, Tongxiang, and found the "Musheng Bridge". It turned out that the owner of the stone factory had already set up the bridge in the yard for display. Seeing the three prominent characters "Musheng Bridge" on the bridge body, Mr. Yan smiled. Fortunately, the police solved the case in time; otherwise, who knows where the bridge would have been sold.