After discovering the normally filled on-campus Rebel Yell racks were completely empty, the newspaper staff received word from UNLV Solid Waste and Recycling Manager Tara Pike-Nordstrom Tuesday afternoon that the missing March 10 papers had been dumped into campus recycling bins.

“We got two big garbage bags full of them,” she said.

Though still under investigation, the theft may have occurred in apparent reaction to a controversial opinion piece that appeared in the March 10 issue.

According to the Student Press Law Center, newspaper theft is a crime.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the Nevada ACLU, also said that the theft was illegal, adding that it went against the principles of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

“This theft should be treated like any other theft,” he said. “We believe the purpose of the First Amendment is to foster debate, though sometimes it can be heated.”