CONNOQUENESSING TWP — State police are investigating a heavy metal theft.

The victim, Butler businessman Joe Rogers, hopes a $500 reward will help solve the case. Otherwise, he says, his business may be down for the count.

“If we don’t get this back,” he said Monday, “this will ruin us.”

Missing is perhaps the most valuable piece of equipment Rogers owns — a 2,000-pound steel frame for a wrestling ring.

“Obviously,” he said, “without that, I’m out of business.”

Rogers’ business is Five Star Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion company that he co-founded in 2010 with Anthony Celender.

The wrestling ring frame and other business -related merchandise including T-shirts were stolen some time in the past three weeks from Butler Mini Storage on Route 68 in Connoquenessing Township, where Rogers had stored the property.

The unit was among three at the facility that police suspect were broken into between Dec. 14 and Jan. 3.

The units were likely burglarized on the same day, said Trooper Jerel Smith.

Given the size and weight of Rogers’ 16-foot-by-60-foot wrestling ring frame, investigators believe a burglary crew of some sort is involved.

However, the suspects apparently did not find much of anything worth taking from the other two units. Either that or, police said, they didn’t have time.

Nothing was missing from one of the those two units. A woodworking router, worth about $100, was all that was taken from the other unit.

Investigators admit that they have little to go on in cracking the case.

“We have no leads, no surveillance and no suspects,” Smith said Monday.

Those responsible, Rogers believes, are “scrappers” — scrap metal thieves who sell their loot for quick cash.

“I called all the scrap yards in and around Butler County to let them know to keep an eye out,” he said.

In addition to talking to the scrap yard owners, he sent them a picture of the property.

The frame, he said, is worth $4,000. He had no insurance on it.

Rogers said the stolen property is vital to his business. He noted that he has wrestling shows booked soon in East Brady and Ellwood City.

Additional plans are for a charitable event at Shriners Hospital for Children in Erie.

Rogers announced Monday that he is putting up a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects and return of the wrestling ring frame.

His phone number is 724-256-1774 and his business e-mail is management@fswwrestling.com.