HUNTINGTON BEACH : Children’s Cabin Stolen From School. Call it the case of the purloined playhouse.

A 4-foot-square cabin used by special education children at William T. Newland Elementary School disappeared Wednesday night from a fenced-in yard.

“It’s so sad,” said teacher Jennifer Moore, who described the little plastic house as a popular site for classes as well as play periods.

Whoever took the cabin apparently hoisted it over a 6-foot chain-link fence and moved it across the school campus. School officials said they found tire tracks leading to the fence and empty beer bottles nearby.

The 3- and 4-year-old children who used the cabin were upset by the theft, teachers said, and the older students were perplexed.

“It’s weird,” said 9-year-old Pakayla Biehn. She speculated that perhaps the thieves “have kids and are really poor,” prompting them to take the cabin for a Christmas present.

“All day, students have been asking me how anyone could steal a playhouse and why they would take it from a school,” Principal Rosemary Eadie said. “I’ve been telling them that there are some people who can’t control what they do.”

Pakayla and her classmates said they will organize a fund-raising drive to replace the playhouse, valued at about $180.

Meantime, school and police officials are asking nearby residents to be on the lookout for the cabin, which is made of brown plastic logs and has a slanted green roof. “We’d love to have their help,” said Lt. Chuck Thomas of the Huntington Beach Police Department.