This is crazy. Somebody placed an ad on Craigslist last Saturday afternoon, saying the owner of a Jacksonville home was forced to leave the area suddenly and his belongings, including a horse, were free for the taking.

However, the man, Robert Salisbury, had no plans to leave. In fact, Salisbury was relaxing at a lake in southern Oregon when someone called him to make sure it was OK to take his horse.

During his rush home, Salisbury stopped a truck loaded down with his work ladders, lawn mower and various other pieces of equipment. “I informed them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff back,” Salisbury told the Mail Tribune. “They showed me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right to do what they did.” Not only did the driver of the truck refuse to turn over the belongings, he also sped away in cloud of dust.

Upon arriving home Salisbury was greeted by nearly 30 people rummaging through his barn and front porch.

“They were like a pack of vultures,” Salisbury said.

Salisbury blocked his driveway and ordered everyone to leave his property. The trespassers, armed with printouts of the ad, tried to brush him off. “They honestly thought that because it appeared on the Internet it was true,” Salisbury said. “It boggles the mind.” Some attempted to lie saying the home’s owner had just left after instructing them to take whatever they wanted, Salisbury said.

Jacksonville police and Jackson County sheriff’s deputies soon arrived to restore order. By then, however, several cars packed with Salisbury’s property had fled. He did managed to collect license plate numbers, which he turned over to sheriff’s detectives.

Detectives have contacted Craigslist’s legal team in an attempt to track whomever posted the ad. They also plan to trace the license plate numbers taken by Salisbury. Possible charges connected to the case include theft, burglary, computer crime, theft by receiving and conspiracy to commit theft and burglary, Fagan said.

After the rough day, Salisbury could not even take a minute relax on his porch swing — it had been snatched earlier that afternoon.

Update: Sunday: Some Items Returned

Only a few items swiped from a Jacksonville man’s property Saturday as a result of two hoax ads on Craigslist were returned Sunday, the property owner said, including clay pots, a backpack, parts to a crib and some saw blades.

Update: Also Happened in Tacoma!

Someone with cruel intentions placed a fake ad on Craigslist last weekend, inviting people to take whatever they wanted for free from a Tacoma home. Homeowner Laurie Raye says there’s little left now of the Tacoma house. The outside of the home is trashed, the inside is nearly gutted and covered in graffiti. Raye says she is devastated. The homeowner says from the light fixtures to the hot water heater, everything is gone - including the kitchen sink.

“We’ve had a lot of scams off of Craigslist,” said Detective Gretchen Ellis, Tacoma Police Department. “We’ve had prostitution things happen, rental scams, fraudulent activity. In this case, it appeared the items were going to be given away, but they were not.”