22-ton bridge stolen from Turkish village

Even the world's sneakiest criminals have met their match this week in a group of thieves who made a Turkish bridge disappear.

According to Today's Zaman, villagers in the Turkish province of Kocaeli awoke on Monday morning to find their commute to work at the nearby orchards was a little trickier than usual, what with the creek in their path.

The 22-ton, 25 metre-long bridge built over the water had disappeared.

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A CNN video from the country with a news report in Turkish shows villagers wading through the water to reach the other side. The thieves had apparently cut the bridge into pieces and loaded it into a truck, most likely to sell for scrap metal.

They certainly didn't waste an ounce; it seems the only sign left that a bridge had ever existed is a handful of metal pieces and some debris.

The news report estimated the bridge's value at about $11, 300 Canadian.

This isn't the first ever successful bridge heist. Last year, thieves stole a 10-ton bridge in the Czech Republic in broad daylight while police officers watched.

Police told the Inquisitr the thieves had posed as construction workers with instructions to demolish the bridge. The robbers even showed the officers forged paperwork.

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Burglars are beginning to seem more like tricksters and magicians.