At 4 feet 11, former U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski almost stood a little shorter last week after a thief stole her famous footstool out of a car in Hampden.

Mikulski’s signature footstool, which she uses for speaking engagements, was stolen out of an employee’s car on Falls Road in Hampden, according to an internet post from the employee Monday.

The employee posted the story to the social media platform Nextdoor, asking neighbors for help after a thief broke into her car and stole a bag containing the collapsible stool. She believed the thief mistook the bag for a purse and might have discarded the stool nearby upon discovery.

The employee asked to not be identified for safety reasons.

Mikulski’s stool has become notable over the former Maryland senator’s career. For years, the item, which has been described as blue and carpeted, garnered mentions in media coverage from publications like The Baltimore Sun and Washington Post.

A number of people commented on the post on Nextdoor, some even offering to buy a new step stool for the former U.S. senator.

The employee later told the Sun that a neighbor later found the stool in a trash can.

Mikulski was the longest-serving female senator in Congress at the time of her retirement from public office in 2016. She is originally from the Highlandtown neighborhood in East Baltimore.

— Lillian Reed and Yvonne Wenger