LOWELLVILLE, Ohio - A Lowellville resident is demanding answers after surveillance video captured what he says is the city’s street department clearing out his private property—without warning.

Gage Donatelli says he found out something was wrong when his neighbor called him over after noticing the gate to his backyard had been opened. He says both his gate and shed were locked, and when he walked around back, major items were missing—including a commercial smoker and everything that had been inside the shed.

According to a police report, Donatelli and his father filed a theft complaint on June 13 after noticing missing items from the backyard and shed at the East Grant Street home. The report notes the area had been "rummaged through" and that grass in the yard appeared to have been driven over. Items listed as missing include a lawnmower, two chainsaws, two toolboxes, chainsaw bars, a smoker grill, and a large snowplow.

Donatelli says the items—worth thousands of dollars—were removed by city workers who entered through a locked gate and even disassembled part of his fence to bring in equipment.

“You can see on the corner where they disassembled the fence to get their Bobcat in to take my smoker,” he said.

A neighbor confirmed to police that city vehicles were on the property and provided surveillance video. Donatelli says the only reason he found out was because of that neighbor’s tip.

“He told me that for the past few weeks that he had seen the city trucks up here removing things from my backyard... which he thought was me, because I'm renovating the house,” Donatelli said.

The homeowner also claims he never received any notice from the city, despite concerns about overgrown grass. Instead, he says the city mailed documents about the cleanup to an address in Texas.

“I have absolutely no connection with Texas,” he said. “I've never been on that side of the country, let alone had a mailing address there.”

“There was no note, no notification sent to this property or my current address,” he added.

Lowellville Police Chief Rick Alli tells 21 News there is an active investigation and that the incident will be fully addressed after speaking with all parties involved.

Donatelli says many of the items were scrapped and cannot be recovered. He’s now exploring legal options.