I sense a caption competition. Something like:
"Put your cars under the (really big) hammer at Barrett-Jackson"
Or: "The custom metal was getting the money - so we thought we'd join them"
Or from the Austin Healey owner coming back to the scene: "Something's slightly wrong here: Who's stolen my grill badge?"
It's a real shame, but it's only metal, and no doubt they're insured.
Rob