Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office returns 1960s-era howitzer to feds

PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office returned a 1960s-era howitzer to the Department of Defense on Thursday, according to a press release.

The military cannon is a “museum piece,” the sheriff’s office said, that had “no real law enforcement value or application.” It also would have cost taxpayers “tens of thousands of dollars to repair.”

A special thanks to the Department of Defense for facilitating the removal and return of the Howitzer back to where it came from. pic.twitter.com/M0uW57Pj6V

— Maricopa Sheriff (@MaricopaSheriff) May 25, 2017

According to 12 News, the war machine was used by the sheriff’s office for parades and community events since it was acquired in 1999. It was not functioning while it was in MCSO’s possession.

The repairs on the machine include touching up the tires and the wheels of the trailer. They had “deteriorated to a point where the trailer was essentially grounded in a parking lot,” 12 News said.

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