By KEVIN TAYLOR
KAWHIA - Constable Paul Francis has an unusual bit of lost property waiting for someone to claim it at the Kawhia police station.
Three weeks ago, a three-metre-high radio transmission beacon was found washed up at Taharoa Beach and handed to staff at the nearby BHP New Zealand Steel operation.
The beacon, valued at between $4000 and $5000, is used by ocean-going vessels to mark locations in the water.
One possible use could be to mark the location of fishing nets.
Constable Francis said he had been unable to find the beacon's owner - and he wanted to make space in the lost property room at the station.
He said the beacon could be foreign-owned, but it had no identifying markings.
"It could have come from Aussie, America, Japan or another country."
Constable Francis said the beacon was one of the more unusual things he has had in his lost property room.
"I would be quite keen to find an owner and clear the room out."
In late August, a message from Japan was washed up near Kawhia and into the hands of a 10-year-old girl.
Marree Keepa-Tamainu thought she had found a Kinder Surprise toy when she went looking for shells with her cousins on Ocean Beach.
She got more than a surprise when she found a message from a Japanese girl written on four small pieces of greaseproof paper.
Valuable beacon leaves police officer in a jam
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