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Officials had offered a reward of $700 for the return of an F-16 model stolen from the Clovis High School around Aug. 17. The plane was located at the edge of a field north of Clovis Saturday morning and loaded into a pick up truck by law enforcement.
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Clovis High School Assistant Principal Mike Rutledge along with Clovis police officers and a Curry County sheriff's deputy carry a scale model F-16 from a bar ditch at Curry Roads 16 and G Saturday morning.
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Police officers load a scale model F-16 into the bed of a pickup truck Saturday morning. The plane, stolen from Clovis High School, was recovered unharmed at the edge of a field north of Clovis.

A scale model F-16 stolen from Clovis High School on Aug. 17 was recovered unscathed Saturday morning.

Around 9 a.m., police received a report that the 1/8-scale jet was lying in a ditch at Curry Roads 16 and G.
Capt. Patrick Whitney said sheriff’s deputies and police responded to the scene and found the jet undamaged at the side of the road near the edge of a field.

“It sounds like somebody wanted it to be found,” he said. “The heat was on.”

Theft of the jet from the CHS grounds where it was displayed was captured on a surveillance camera at the school but officials were unable to make out the two culprits.

“At least it’s not what I thought it would be; I thought it would be damaged,” said Assistant Principal Mike Rutledge, who was on hand to recover the plane and return it to the high school Saturday.

The plane, though covered in dust from the nearby county road, didn't appear to be damaged. A Curry County Sheriff’s deputy and Clovis police officers helped load the plane into the bed of a pickup truck and it was on its way back to the high school.

A $700 reward was offered Thursday for the jet’s safe return or information leading to a conviction.

The $2,500 value of the plane made the theft a felony.

School officials said previously the model, made by Martin-Marietta in Fort Worth, Texas, was on loan to the school from Lockheed Martin and the plane was previously mounted in front of the F-16 squadron at Cannon Air Force Base.

The model was brought to CHS after the F-16s left Cannon.