Florida man accused of stealing Smokey Bear signs and selling them on Facebook faces up to 10 years in prison

A Florida man accused of stealing Smokey Bear signs from state parks across the state and attempting to sell them online has been indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of theft of government property, the Department of Justice announced Monday.

Hunter Drake Lovett, 30, of Pace, was indicted on the federal charge, according to U.S. Attorney John Heekin for the Northern District of Florida. If convicted, Lovett faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

Lovett is scheduled to stand trial beginning July 20.

The case stems from Lovett's arrest in July 2025, when authorities accused him of stealing Smokey Bear signs from state parks in Pensacola, Panama City and Orlando. Federal investigators said he then attempted to sell the signs on Facebook Marketplace for $1,900 each.

At the time of the arrest, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson highlighted the case in a post on X.

"What happens when dumb criminals poke the bear?" Simpson wrote on July 30, 2025. "Big thank you to @smokey_bear for personally assisting in the arrest."

Simpson added that the department's Agricultural Law Team had taken the suspect into custody, who allegedly traveled throughout Florida stealing Smokey Bear signs from state forests and selling them on social media.

The investigation was led by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, with assistance from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement, the Eufaula, Alabama Police Department and the Florida Forest Service.