B757-200 CREW DISCOVERED AN ILLEGAL OP INTO A SHORT RWY ARPT AND AN ILLEGAL OUT OF TIME; AND NOT RECORDED; MEL DEFERRAL OF AN INOP THRUST REVERSER.

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MAINT LOG DISCREPANCY. PICKED UP ACFT X AT GATE FOR TRIP BACK TO DFW. CREW SQUAWKED L-HAND PROBE HEAT EICAS MESSAGE. WHEN REVIEWING THE LOGBOOK; IT WAS NOTED THAT IT HAD AN UNCLRED PLACARD FOR THE L ENG THRUST REVERSER INOP; ALSO 2 #2 INOP STICKERS IN THE COCKPIT. MEL CLRLY STATES THAT PLANE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED INTO ARPT WITH LESS THAN 7100 FT OF RWY. MEL REF DID NOT APPEAR ON FLT PLAN. CALLED DISPATCH. DISPATCHER HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF INOP THRUST REVERSER -- NO COMPUTER RECORD. HE CALLED MAINT CTLR. THEY SAID WORK HAD BEEN DONE ON THRUST REVERSER ON MAY/SAT/02 AND COMPUTER MEL REMOVED AT THAT TIME. (NO ENTRY IN LOGBOOK FOR WORK DONE ON THRUST REVERSER.) ZZZ MAINT CHKED L THRUST REVERSER AND FOUND IT PINNED IN FORWARD THRUST POS. IT WAS INDEED STILL INOP. ORIGINAL WRITE-UP WITH THE PLACARD WAS ON MAY/FRI/02. ACFT WAS IN ITS 9TH DAY WITHOUT A L THRUST REVERSER; BUT ALL REFERENCES TO IT IN THE COMPUTER SYS HAD BEEN REMOVED. ACFT X WAS THUS ILLEGAL TO FLY TO ZZZ; BUT INBOUND CREW OBVIOUSLY DID NOT RECOGNIZE OR COMPLY WITH THE RESTR PLACED ON IT. PLANE REMOVED FROM SVC AT ZZZ.