Man who left tobacco pipes under dock hoped 'tide would wash them away'

A Hilton Head Island man who placed a shoebox with two tobacco pipes underneath a community dock told authorities he was going to quit smoking and was "hoping the tide would wash them away," according to a report from the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

A neighbor of the nearby community dock said he saw a man leave a small shoebox under the dock late Friday afternoon; when a deputy recovered the box, he found it contained the two pipes and several empty containers.

When the deputy tracked down the owner of the box's contents, the man told the deputy he was trying to quit smoking and had placed the box there in the hopes the "tide would wash them away," the report said.

The deputy told the man he was seizing the pipes to destroy them and advised him not to let other items wash away. No drugs were found and no charges were filed, the report said.

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Man who left tobacco pipes under dock hoped 'tide would wash them away'."