Cold Dreary Skuzzy Day

Looks like a winner of a day today. Cold, dreary and skuzzy. Wonderful man that my husband is, got the pellet stove running first thing this morning, and as we were sitting/standing around waiting for it to finish with its startup cycle, what do we see in the fire box, but a gasket that the auger drug through the system. White paper-like pretty gasket sitting in the flames. Well that's not good. Shut 'er down. My job today is to remove the 40 lbs. of pellets out of the hopper in the back to try and expose where this thing came from. It was a floor model, so I am hoping that it is just an extra that was stuffed in there. I know it is a long shot, but I can dream...right?