The Weyburn Police Service is investigating the theft of a hunting rifle from a vehicle on Friday, as the whereabouts of the rifle is a matter of public safety.

"It's the last thing we want out there is a weapon that is in someone's possession that we don't know of," said Sergeant Hughie Gilchrist. "Just the crime itself, when something is taken, of that nature, it leads us to believe if they're strong enough willed to steal it, it might be also one of them that they might be also strong enough to maybe use it."

"It is a very huge concern for us. Any time a weapon is out there, where there's no control on it, it's not good," he added.

He said it was likely a crime of opportunity, with the person who stole it possibly seeing it as something they could sell.

"Our concern is selling it to the wrong person for all the wrong reasons of use after that," he said. "When we hear about weapons being stolen and just listen to the crimes that are being created by firearms, it's getting more and more serious all the time, and we do take it very seriously."

Gilchrist said these kinds of cases can be solved most often with the public's assistance.

"If they've seen or heard anything, just to even give us an indication of maybe the time of the theft does help as well," he shared. "We want to know who has it."

"If we get enough information, that might lead us to a suspect," he noted. "But also it leads us to the fact of just maybe how dangerous this weapon could be in the hands of that individual, as well."

Gilchrist commented that, at this time, the WPS is not currently willing to release the location of the theft.