PORT STANLEY, Ont. -- Ontario's provincial police say one of their patrol boats was stolen and set ablaze in Lake Erie on Wednesday morning.
Investigators say the seven-metre vessel was taken from a marina in Port Stanley, Ont., around 2:45 a.m. and driven about one kilometre to Port Stanley Harbour on Lake Erie.
Police say the boat was then set on fire and destroyed.
OPP say the boat's location and access to the area made firefighting efforts difficult.
Elgin County OPP say a temporary replacement boat is being arranged from provincial police headquarters in Orillia, Ont.
The boat was valued at about $85,000.
"An act such as this really jeopardizes the safety of the boating public," Const. Troy Carlson said in a release.
The vessel was responsible for marine safety, security and rescue operations along about 70 kilometres of shoreline and to the U.S.-Canada border on Lake Erie, Carlson noted.
The loss of the boat "hampers our ability to respond to marine emergencies in a timely fashion out on Lake Erie," he said.
