v1.6.17.0 (Unto the Breach update)

Barotrauma/BarotraumaShared/SharedSource/Characters/AI/Objectives/AIObjectiveDeconstructItems.cs

@@ -59,12 +59,14 @@ namespace Barotrauma
 
         protected override bool IsValidTarget(Item target)
         {
+            if (target == null || target.Removed) { return false; }
             // If the target was selected as a valid target, we'll have to accept it so that the objective can be completed.
             // The validity changes when a character picks the item up.
             if (!IsValidTarget(target, character, checkInventory: true)) 
             { 
                 return Objectives.ContainsKey(target) && AIObjectiveCleanupItems.IsItemInsideValidSubmarine(target, character); 
             }
+            //note that the item can be outside hulls and still be a valid target - it can be in the character's inventory
             if (target.CurrentHull != null && target.CurrentHull.FireSources.Count > 0) { return false; }
 
             foreach (Character c in Character.CharacterList)
@@ -96,7 +98,7 @@ namespace Barotrauma
 
         private static bool IsValidTarget(Item item, Character character, bool checkInventory)
         {
-            if (item == null) { return false; }
+            if (item == null || item.Removed) { return false; }
             if (item.GetRootInventoryOwner() == character) { return true; }
             return AIObjectiveCleanupItems.IsValidTarget(
                 item,