Mounties are investigating after heavy equipment at a Trans Mountain work site was torched near Merritt.

Southeast District RCMP Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey says a Peterbuilt rope truck was burned in the early morning hours yesterday at a Trans Mountain expansion site, near Highway 5A and Tillery Road.

O’Donaghey says the truck is a total loss, and he says it was also targeted on the weekend before it was burned down, saying someone committed “an act of mischief” and stole fuel several days earlier.

He says police aren’t sure whether the crimes were targeted or were crimes of opportunity.

Meanwhile, O’Donaghey says investigators are hoping to speak with people who were camping “in the immediate area” over the weekend, saying the may have key information about the arson.

Anyone who travelled near Highway 5A and Tillery Road between Monday and Tuesday, near Aspen Grove, is also being asked to review dash cam footage and contact police.

Trans Mountain says the truck belongs to Valard Construction, which is the contractor involved with the Kingsvale Electricity Transmission Line project, which is in the process of being built.

The transmission line will bring additional power to Trans Mountain’s pump station at Kingsvale, ahead of the pipeline expansion project.