In article , Blanche
wrote:

As far as I'm concerned, it's theft by the US Government if there
is no way to return the object to the owner at a later time.

An interesting program on this topic was heard on NPR yesterday
afternoon.
It seems that if a passenger complains that something has been stolen
from his/her luggage, there are now multiple forms that must be filled
out. Then, you wait.
Under new legislation, the TSA and airlines share losses 50-50.
The only problem is, Congress limited the TSA's amount to $2 million.