$2,000 bench taken from historic site

Authorities are looking for a bench swiped from the Fort Smith National Historic Site, an area where visitors can explore the Trail of Tears and the courthouse used by an infamous judge.

The bench, valued at $2,000, was stolen from the site on Sunday, park superintendent Bill Black said.

"Out of all the benches in the park, this was the favorite of everybody's because you could sit up high and see the river and the Trail of Tears overlook," Black said. "You could sit in the shade in the summertime, watch the sunsets in the evening, so it was the most popular bench."

The historic site includes the remnants of an 1817 fort and the 1870s courtroom of Judge Isaac C. Parker, nicknamed the "hanging judge."