PENSACOLA, Fla. (CBS12) — A Florida man accused of stealing iconic Smokey Bear wildfire prevention signs from public lands and selling them online for nearly $2,000 each now faces a federal charge.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on June 29 that Hunter Drake Lovett, 30, of Pace, was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of theft of government property.
The stolen signs — bearing Smokey Bear’s unmistakable message — surfaced on Facebook Marketplace, priced at a whopping $1,900 each. (Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson)
Lovett appeared for his arraignment in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hope Thai Cannon in Pensacola. His jury trial is scheduled for July 20. If convicted, Lovett faces up to 10 years in prison, the DOJ said.
The indictment stems from a case that drew widespread attention in August 2025 after Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced the recovery of stolen Smokey Bear signs that had allegedly been removed from state forest areas and listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace for as much as $1,900 each.
See also: ‘Where’s your parents?’: Florida police encounter 8-year-old operating jet ski
At the time, Simpson praised investigators with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement, who tracked the signs and identified a suspect through a multi-county investigation. The commissioner famously quipped:
What happens when dumb criminals poke the bear?”
Federal prosecutors said the case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, with assistance from Florida agricultural law enforcement, the Florida Forest Service and the Eufaula Police Department in Alabama.