OP: The City of Port Arthur, Texas has sold their park display locomotive, Louisiana & Arkansas No. 503 for scrap. That fact was not learned until it had already been sold, and now a bunch of railfans/modelers/railroaders etc. are getting together and pooling our money to purchase the locomotive and move it to someplace safe.
According to the OP, "it has been sold". So the city no longer owns it. Or was that just a lie. Everyone has the right to grumble if it was.