Tenants “associate” put a padlock on a door

[Tim Bellnier]

I own a North Carolina single family home with a full basement and one of the basement rooms (root cellar?)  has an exterior door that now is padlocked.

The lock was put on by an associate of the tenant and the tenant does not have a key nor does my tenant desire their associate to continue storing personal possessions there.  The owner of the personal property is not on my lease, never lived there, and never received any mail at the property.  Appears they simply saw the opportunity to get free storage and now refuse to respond to any requests to remove their property.

Any reason I should not remove the lock so I can do a regular inspection of my property?