This tree was going to be church pews for a Hilton Head group. Then someone took it, police say

A man driving by the Zion Chapel of Ease — the site of Hilton Head Island’s first church — saw a pile of freshly cut wood and decided to take it for himself, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

The problem was, the wood was marked for a higher purpose — it was going to be made into church pews, the report said.

The Heritage Library History & Ancestry Research Center hired a contractor to cut, dry, and mill the tree, the report said. After cutting the tree down, the company couldn’t haul all the wood away from the church at once, taking only as much as they could.

When they came back for the remaining wood, someone had stolen the trunk of the tree, the report said.

The contractor and library representatives were able to track down who stole the wood through a Facebook post, the report said.

The man confessed, the report said. He said he saw the wood piled up and didn’t want it to go to waste or be thrown out so he took it because he thought it was on public land, the report said.

He says he only took a small amount and returned everything he had, but the contractor says there is still a lot missing, the report said.

The Heritage Library has not filed criminal charges, but said they would support the contractor in a civil matter, the report said.