Approximately 2,200 copies of the Chapman University student newspaper disappeared before student staffers had a chance to distribute the weekly.

Amber Gonzales, editor of The Panther, said the printing cost is about $1,400 and this week’s issue of the paper won’t be reprinted.

“We really can’t afford it,” Gonzales said. “There’s a PDF version on the Web.”

The shipment of newspapers was delivered in bundles at about 10:30 a.m. Monday on campus, and Gonzales said she went out and grabbed a bundle for archival purposes.

“Our distribution guy went out at 11:30 a.m. and when he went out, they were gone,” Gonzales said. “I drove around, and I didn’t see any of the newspapers.”

Susan Paterno, the director of the journalism program at Chapman, said this is the third incident of newspapers disappearing at the campus in five years.

Gonzales said she didn’t know why the newspapers had been taken. She planned to report the papers’ disappearance to Orange police.

“It feels really random. I can’t think of anything controversial,” Gonzales said. “We were featuring ‘Twilight: New Moon.’ ”

Mary Platt, a university spokeswoman, said Chapman was concerned about the disappearance.

“Whether it was meant as a prank or was done purposefully to sabotage distribution of the news on campus, we take this very seriously,” Platt said. “We will be assisting the newspaper staff in investigating this incident.”

Gonzales said she was frustrated in part because of the time her staff put into the paper.

“Our editors work so hard every week,” she said. “They’re in here 10, 12 hours (some days) and on the weekends for design and layout.”

The paper can be seen at thepantheronline.com.

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