Vandalism question

[zartan2000]

Hi,

I've got a real strange situation with my X3. I popped my hood the other day to add washer fluid and imediately noticed that the engine compartment cover had been stolen. I have a couple of questions ...
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* Is there any way to get under the hood without access to the interior of the car?
* If there is a way to do this from the outside, would the alarm trigger?
* Why was this stole? Can it be sold?
* What does the cover do -- safety measure, sound proofing, etc?
* How soon should I get this replaced?

My current theory is that this happened several weeks ago when I had my car vallet parked for a day.

Thanks,
Zart

P.S. Sorry about the quantity of questions but this is really bugging me.