Police in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district are investigating the seemingly suspicious circumstances under which four tractors were left on a villager’s property last week.

Chan Narith, the police chief in Chey Uddom commune, said a family in Lumphat village had alerted officials yesterday of the machinery, which they said had been on their property since Thursday.

The tractors were most likely used for illegal logging in a nearby conservation area, he added.

“We tried to find the owners of those vehicles, but no one knows. We suspect that those vehicles were used for clearing the forest land and hauling the illegal timber from the Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary,” Chan Narith said.

The abandoned vehicles have been reported to district police, who say they will soon be seized.

“This strange case has never happened in the area before,” said Klol Thoeung, Lumphat district deputy police chief.

“However, on Monday, if their owner still doesn’t come for it or report the clear reasons for parking it there, we will impound them temporarily at Lumphat district police station.”