{O/C} A ferry that sank in the early 1900s in the Mississippi River was recently unearthed again after water levels tanked.
While the spectacular artefact has enchanted folks, archaeologists say that's enticed would-be vandals to snag its components.
{Take SOT}
Along the banks of the Mississippi River is where the mammoth wreckage of the sunken Brookhill Ferry surfaced again.
The ferry sank during a storm in September 1915.
It was designed to transport people between Baton Rouge and Port Allen back in 1896.
This, after water levels in the river shrank this year because of drought.
The discovery of this shipwreck has made history alive, says this expert.
{Soundbite}
CHIP McGIMSEY, Archaeologist for the State of Louisiana:
What's really cool about this is people can come down here and actually see it. They can touch it, they can walk in it. They can ask questions about it. It makes history alive in a way that you don't get any other way.
{VO}
Turns out, it isn't the first time the waters have spared the ferry.
Tiny parts of the vessel were once exposed in the 1990s.
But proving just how precious the shipwreck is, people are daringly stealing components of the ferry.
Dr. McGimsey once spotted an unidentified man walking away from the ferry with a piece of the artefact.
Then he explained to the would-be criminal that the shipwreck belongs to Louisiana, but the man fiercely claimed nobody actually owns the river.
In the end, the man left behind the piece, displeased.
In a bizarre twist, Louisiana's assistant attorney general, after contacting the man, found he had also nabbed two hull planks before, but is working to amicably have the pieces returned.
So far, four pieces of the vessel have gone missing.
That sparked a brief discussion about whether a fence should be erected around the shipwreck to salvage it.
But Dr. McGimsey abandoned the idea because he wants everyone to make the most of this proud local history, which resonated with local residents.
{Soundbite}
HARVEY BEST III, Louisiana Resident:
There's so much history here.
It's our lifeblood and has been for many years.
{VO}
Elsewhere, receding water evels have also unearthed a treasure trove of artefacts, ranging from the dinosaur tracks on a dried-up Central Texas riverbed, and warships along the Serbia-Romania border.
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