Someone with business in or around the Buchanan County Courthouse is missing a used crack pipe. Courthouse security officers know where it is.

They found it in an ashtray just outside the entrance to the courthouse. A security officer discovered the illegal paraphernalia while putting out a small fire in the container.

There, amid a used lolly pop, various crumbled paper items, and a lot of finished smokes, was the device.

“If it weren’t for the fire, we never would have noticed it,” said the guard.

The metal pipe was found in the ashtray less than twenty feet from the metal detectors used to screen everyone who comes in the building.