[font=Verdana]Federal authorities are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who stole more than 500 pounds of explosives, including dynamite, from a mining company. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Ammonium nitrate, another item stolen, was a key ingredient in the bomb that gutted the [/font][font=Verdana]Alfred[/font][font=Verdana]P.[/font][font=Verdana]Murrah[/font][font=Verdana]Federal[/font][font=Verdana]Building[/font][font=Verdana] in [/font][font=Verdana]Oklahoma City[/font][font=Verdana] on [/font][font=Verdana]April 19, 1995[/font][font=Verdana], killing 168 men, women and children. It was the largest domestic terrorist attack in U.S history. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Authorities on Tuesday did not rule out the possibility of terrorism in the Big Bear City, CA theft, but said it was unlikely. [/font]

[font=Verdana]"There's nothing in the investigation thus far that indicates this is a terrorist act,'' said John D'Angelo, a special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal law-enforcement agency that investigates incidents involving explosives. [/font]

[font=Verdana]On May 3, the owner of the Gold Mountain Mine Co. in [/font][font=Verdana]Big[/font][font=Verdana]Bear[/font][font=Verdana]City[/font][font=Verdana] - a one-man gold-mining operation - reported the theft of 686 sticks of dynamite, a 30-pound bag of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil from a metal storage bin on the property off [/font][font=Verdana]Holcomb Valley Road[/font][font=Verdana]. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Various hand and power tools were used to cut through the security-gate lock and pry open the storage-bin door, D'Angelo said. [/font]

[font=Verdana]D'Angelo refused to identify the owner of the mining business Tuesday, saying it is against ATF policy. He did say, however, that the business owner held a federal license to possess explosives, which are used in the mining business to move earth. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Authorities are also looking into the possibility that the thief knew the company owner. [/font]

[font=Verdana]The thief might have been someone in the mining or demolition business who stole the explosives to avoid paying for them, D'Angelo said. [/font]

[font=Verdana]The value of the stolen explosives was estimated at $4,000, D'Angelo said. [/font]

[font=Verdana]Authorities are most concerned with the explosives falling into the hands of criminals. [/font]

[font=Verdana]`'One stick of dynamite can do major damage to a car or a small building. The quantity certainly concerns us,'' D'Angelo said. "It all depends on how somebody uses it, their knowledge of explosives and their target.''[/font]