MICHIGAN CITY | A trailer loaded with more than 8 tons of playground equipment was stolen over the weekend from a Michigan City-area truck stop.

David Dennett, of Michigan City, told LaPorte County authorities he parked the trailer on Friday in the south parking lot of Gas City at 2884 N. U.S. 421.

He went home and when he drove by Saturday, the trailer still was there.

When Dennett returned to the truck stop Sunday night, though, it was gone.

Dennett works for Kovac Express out of South Bend, the owner of the trailer carrying 16,985 pounds of wooden playground equipment and accessories.

Kovac Express owner Alen Kovac said the trailer was picked up from a factory in South Dakota and was heading to a retailer in New Jersey.

He said finding it won't be so easy because the GPS unit was removed from the trailer before driven off the premises.

"It's probably some guys that know what they're doing," Kovac said.

LaPorte County Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer said those type of thefts happen occasionally by thieves who more than likely have buyers lined up for the stolen cargo.

"I'm sure they probably will have somebody they can sell it to," Mollenhauer said.

Usually, Mollenhauer said trailers are unloaded and abandoned in a secluded location then recovered when someone accidentally stumbles upon it.

In 2008, a trailer loaded with 20 tons of chocolate was swiped from the same truck stop.

The empty trailer was recovered three days later in a field off the Interstate 65/Indiana Toll Road interchange.