Thieves ditch popular DOT mascot
Posted: April 3, 2016 - 4:00am

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The search for Barrel Bob — the Missouri Department of Transportation's mascot — is over.

Nearly two weeks since being stolen on a federal highway in Jefferson City, the 10-foot-tall sculpture made from recycled orange and white construction barrels turned up in a Boone County ditch Thursday evening.

Barrel Bob is a statewide pitchman for work-zone safety, a job that includes a social media presence.

A statement by the department jokes that Barrel Bob was "shaken up but appeared unharmed" and unsurprisingly refused medical attention, asking to be taken to the department's Columbia maintenance site.

The mascot has found itself in tough straits before. It was set ablaze last October.