($AAPL) San Francisco police said on Friday they had helped Apple Inc security search for a "lost item," following a week of reports that a prototype of the newest iPhone had gone missing in July.

Officers did not say exactly what Apple had lost, but they left a clue -- the San Francisco Police Department's Friday press release about the hunt was called "iphone5.doc," an apparent reference to a new version of the mobile phone that tech industry watchers expect to be released soon.

Apple declined to comment on the matter.-Reuters