A bloke posing as a contractor has stolen an entire railway in Finland, with the help of the locals.

Last month, the man showed up in Salla in Lapland and persuaded local people to help him lift about half of a seven kilometre stretch of railway track that hadn't been used since World War II and load it onto lorries. Finnish police say the locals were acting in good faith, unaware they were doing anything illegal.

Railway authorities only noticed the theft when track engineers from the Finnish Rail Administration turned up for a routine inspection of the line leading to the Russian border. Some 120 tons of rails were transported to nearby Oulu, where they were sold for scrap, raising about €39,000.

Police are keen to talk to a man who had earlier contacted the Rail Administration and suggested tearing up the disused section of track, but was refused permission. X

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Helsingin Sanomat