As a general rule, lots of people on this earth are pretty freaking stupid. I good friend of mine had a treestand stolen one year and the idiot who took it was dumb enough to hang it up on the same property not a couple hundred yards away with the intentions of hunting from it. The real funny part was the guy used a cable and padlock on it to keep it from getting stolen after he had already stole it fair and square. My advice is question the guy with the ladder stand from what you have said he is most likely the culprit.