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The Frederick Police Department is looking for a man captured on surveillance video at a downtown business where at least 8,000 lbs. of fertilizer was discovered missing last weekend.

Police are looking for a white, balding man, 45 to 50 years old, who may have been involved in stealing 6,000 lbs. of 19-19-19 fertilizer and 2,000 lbs. of urea from Southern Sates Cooperative Farm Store, at 518 E. South St.

The chemicals were stolen during the nights of Feb. 28 and March 1, police said. Both substances are agriculture-grade fertilizer; urea is also used to melt ice. The fertilizer was packaged primarily in white, 50-lb. bags, with a red and blue SS logo.

Police reported the missing substances to the Federal Bureau of Investigations due to the sensitive nature of the theft, said Lt. Clark Pennington, spokesman for the Frederick Police Department.

"We knew that in the past fertilizer has been used to make bombing material, so we made direct contact with them," Pennington said. "To connect the dots, we wanted to include all of our federal partners."

Police said they do not have a motive for the thefts, but as a matter of protocol, police also notified the Maryland Coordination Analysis Center, which coordinates information, particularly about unusual robberies and burglaries such as this one, with all of the regional law enforcement agencies and the federal government.

New director appointed

for historical society

Former Burkittsville mayor Heidi Campbell-Shoaf has been named the new executive director of the Historical Society of Frederick County.

Campbell-Shoaf, who currently serves as the society's curator, will replace Mark Hudson who resigns from his post to head the Vermont Historical Society on March 12.

As curator, Campbell-Shoaf was responsible for overseeing the society's programming and exhibitions.

In a press release, Campbell-Shoaf said that her plans as executive director include maximizing the use of technology and the Internet to promote access to the Historical Society's collections and programming, and creating a permanent Frederick-centric exhibition about county history.

In her new position, she will oversee all aspects of the society's operations, which includes managing the Museum of Frederick County History, the Frederick County Archives and Research Center and the Roger Brooke Taney House.

Prior to serving as the society's curator, Campbell-Shoaf was the assistant historian for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and curator of the Longhurst Farm in Canfield, Ohio. She served as mayor of Burkittsville from 2002 to 2007.

E-mail Erica L. Green at egreen@gazette.net.