An agricultural business in Gem Village is asking for help in finding an old tractor stolen sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.

The orange 1981 Kubota M4050 tractor with a front loader was stolen from a locked lot at Southwest Ag Inc. The equipment is valued at about $10,000, said Chris Burke, spokesman for the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.

Garry Hillyer, a co-owner of the business, said a chain locking the lot was cut. It took employees at least an hour to realize which vehicle had been taken, Hillyer said.

“It’s a head-scratcher to us because it was a 30-plus-year-old tractor,” he said. “But of all the things that were on the lot, it kind of surprised us.”

Hillyer said he didn’t have any security cameras watching the lot, but a neighbor has footage that may be useful to law enforcement. Burke said the Sheriff’s Office does not have a suspect.

The tractor was coincidentally about to leave the lot; it had been sold and was being prepped for delivery, Hillyer said. Southwest Ag has been fortunate not to have any thefts like this in the past.

“It made for an interesting morning,” Hillyer said.

bhauff@durangoherald.com