Call it the curious case of the boat in the winter time, or maybe just good detective work by officials in the Wareham Harbormaster Department.

On Wednesday afternoon, Harbormaster Garry Buckminster spotted a passenger car towing an 18-foot power boat on Route 6. Later that day, he logged onto Facebook and found a post featuring that same boat dumped by the roadside in Mattapoisett.

Officials in both towns are now seeking information on who may have abandoned the boat, described as a Glastron from the early 1970s.

While seeing boats towed isn’t uncommon in a coastal town, Buckminster said the time of year and type of car hauling the boat piqued his interest.

“It looked odd, but stranger things have happened,” Buckminster said. “One thing that tipped me off was the style of car, an old Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis…You don’t normally see a car towing a boat that size.”

Mattapoisett police were notified after the boat had been left on Route 6 in that town. As of Friday, Buckminster said Mattapoisett police notified him that the boat had been removed.

Mattapoisett Police Chief Mary Lyons was unavailable for comment.

On Thursday morning, Buckminster posted on the department’s Facebook page that any information the public could provide in locating the litterbug would be welcome.

“Now, let’s find the vehicle that was towing the boat!”

One reader notified Buckminster that a Craigslist advertisement listed the boat free for the taking on Cape Cod.

After comparing photographs, Buckminster said a custom steering wheel and shift handle frozen in a particular place confirmed the Craigslist boat was the one abandoned.

He said whoever dumped the boat had destroyed several identification numbers located on the vessel.

As to why the boat was abandoned, Buckminster speculated whoever towed it kept the trailer.

“I’m assuming the owner gave the boat away and it was grabbed because the trailer was in good shape,” he said.

Buckminster said he was grateful for the public’s help. Finding whoever abandoned the boat goes beyond keeping the streets clean, he said, it’s also a money saver.

“We have so many derelict boats left around town at the end of the season, and the department has to spend thousands of dollars on disposal,” he said.

Those boats must be crushed and then discarded at a significant cost to the town.

“I think we had five or six dumpster loads this year,” he said. “That’s five or six thousand dollars out of the town’s budget because people are neglectful.”