DRUMMONDVILLE, Quebec – The Millinocket fire chief’s vacation was stalled Saturday morning when he awoke to find that his truck, an enclosed trailer loaded with antique snowmobiles, and his dog, which had been sleeping in the truck, had been stolen from the parking lot of his motel.

The thief, however, appeared to be a dog lover. The suspect returned to the area Saturday afternoon with the chief’s springer spaniel, tied him to a tree behind the Comfort Inn, then called the motel office to tell the clerk where the animal could be found.

Fire Chief Wayne Campbell and his wife went to Drummondville on Friday to spend the weekend at an antique snowmobile show, the chief said in a phone interview from the Canadian motel Sunday. Campbell, who has been with the Fire Department for more than 30 years, restores antique snowmobiles as a hobby.

Campbell said his 2002 Ford F-250 four-door pickup truck and the attached 30-foot enclosed trailer with four antique snowmobiles inside were locked when it was stolen. The snowmobiles included a 1946 Elias Motor Toboggan and three 1960s-era snowmobiles.

Drummondville is a town of 35,000 people – about the size of Bangor – located between Montreal and Quebec City.

Campbell said Sunday night that local police were not hopeful of recovering the truck, trailer or snowmobiles. The chief said that officials had told him there were several “chop shops” in the area that cut vehicles into pieces and sold them illegally.

“I am so ticked off about this,” he said Sunday. “I’ve put this on the Internet sites for antique snowmobiles. Nobody up here cares. The attitude toward Americans seemed to have changed a lot in the past year. I’ve been coming here for years, and the climate has changed for sure.”

Campbell said he and his wife would be returning to Millinocket today.

A spokesman for the Drummondville police said Sunday afternoon that the theft was under investigation, but so far, “there are no clues.”