Stolen Tractor?

[MarksA-C]

I was working at Jims (Friend of mine) place cleaning out his old shed to make way for a 20x24' garage. We were able to get out his 5216 thats been sitting for about a year since he bought it from a guy on Ebay. According to him the guy delivered it from DT Milwaukee and only took cash... Anyhow....I knowticed that the paint was off, reder/orange paint over the decals and everything and a grey white paint over the hood (not on the decals). To get a manual off the Simplicity Site I looked for the tag with the numbers. Painted over, but all the numbers were scraped clean off. It was Scratching, not scuffing. The 18hp Briggs also had the same thing. Could this have been stolen , re-painted, re-engined, and sold?pi Its been a year since the purchase so chances of finding anything are slim. if it could be true....It makes me sick that it would be done to a Simplicity :Yngr2yell8C

[Ketchamized]

Mark, That's probably why it was stolen in the first place. Who wants to steal a Craftsman? ;) Just kidding. It's unfortunate that there are creeps out there that wants to steal other people's stuff rather than working for it. }:)

[skunkhome]

Surely fits the profile.

[MarksA-C]

Funny...Yet true Erick. Makes me Sick... Thanks

[quantico]

Sad truth is that there are a lot of crooks out there.... the other sad thing is that half my tractors came with missing engine numbers... or serial numbers... the tags on kohler engines rub off easily with anything stronger than water... the silver tags on the simplicity tractors seem to easily tear off or rub away.... I don't think anything I own has been stolen, but there are just a few numbers here and there to go on.... My first sunstar was missing the model number but the serial is in tact... I still can't figure out which model I have... I know what year the engine was built, so that helps... Stamped model numbers in tractors and engines would make my life a lot easier... then if the numbers are gone it is likely because of someone trying to hide something... instead of just a twenty year + old tag...