Look: Mysterious plane found abandoned at side of Florida road

July 16 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida are trying to solve the mystery of a plane found abandoned at the side of a Bay County road.

The Springfield Police Department said on social media that "a portion of a plane" -- the cockpit, nose and front propeller -- was found abandoned at the side of Transmitter Road.

The plane bears markings from ZooWorld in Panama City Beach, including giraffe logos on its seats, but the business said it got rid of the plane about a week ago.

"That used to be part of an exhibit, but it was removed to bring in something that would hold up," Jadena Terrell, ZooWorld's assistant park director, told WJHG-TV . "For you know, against kids climbing that kind of thing, to make it more user-friendly for people in wheelchairs and more compliant for people, so everyone could enjoy it."

Police said they learned the person who took possession of the plane took it to a scrap yard.

"There's some sort of material inside the instruments that causes the glow at night, and as a result, the scrap yard cannot take them," said Russell Voyles, assistant police chief for the Springfield Police Department. "So that they took a portion of the plane, but they do not take the portion behind me."

Police are now trying to determine how the remaining portion of the plane ended up at the side of the road. Voyles said a decision on whether to take civil or criminal action against the responsible party will be made once the probe is completed.