Halifax police are investigating after a gun and ammunition were stolen from the personal vehicle of an off-duty Mountie from New Brunswick.

Investigators say the pistol was stolen from a strong box inside a locked vehicle in a downtown Halifax parking lot at 1549 Lower Water Street on Friday at around 8 p.m.

Officers say the RCMP officer returned shortly before 10 p.m. to find that the vehicle was broken into and the box containing the gun and three ammunition magazines were missing.

The firearm is a silver 9 mm Smith & Wesson model 5906 pistol with an RCMP logo.

It has a silhouette of a mounted officer and "GRC" inscribed on the right side of the slide.

The magazines are also silver and contained 15 bullets each.