Hickory Trickery Shock: Wood Theft Stuns Smyrna BBQ Joint

SMYRNA, TN — Hickory smoke is the essence of barbecue — at least in these parts — so stealing the wood that makes that smoke possible is tantamount to theft of a soul, so when Richard Petty, owner of Smyrna's Better Days Barbecue, arrived at his restaurant early Tuesday morning, his heart dropped.

Petty told WKRN a week's worth of cut hickory was stolen from behind the restaurant.

“Someone left all the other wood and took just the hickory wood,” Petty told the station. “[The stacks] were five and a half feet tall.”

Though Petty was able to find replacement wood, he couldn't get it cut to size in time to smoke meat for Tuesday, forcing him to close his restaurant.

Petty told News 2 he's now locking up the cut hickory and keeping the bulk lumber tied up.

He is also pricing surveillance systems and has filed a report with the Smyrna Police Department.

Photo by antmoreton via Pixabay used under Creative Commons