POLICE IN WASHINGTON DC accidentally mislaid a woman’s car after moving it for a security operation.

Martena Clinton was attending the annual Congressional Black Caucus dinner on Saturday night.

Clinton checked her vehicle was parked legally with a nearby police officer before leaving it and heading to the event.

President Barack Obama was speaking at the dinner, and police moved cars parked in a certain area near the Caucus dinner to different places within a few blocks.

But, according to the Washington Post, authorities forgot to take a note of where Clinton’s car was moved to or who had moved it, and despite spending two hours searching for the car after the event, could not find it.

The search resumed the following morning, but did not locate the vehicle.

A police officer supervising the search, Lt Jonathan Munk, admitted: “We don’t know if it has been lost or stolen. I was told the cars were relocated, but we don’t know. It could have been stolen. We just don’t know.”

Clinton told the Washington Post that she and a friend later managed to find the car close to the convention centre, without police assistance.