The City of Prince George reported that plaques are being taken off of memorial park benches and people are trying to sell them off to scrap metal dealers.
Mike Kellett, a spokesperson for the City of Prince George, said this is becoming an increasingly popular crime.
“It’s something we really hadn’t started seeing until around 2014, and a couple were stolen that year. And just over the last number of years, particularly in 2020, when we saw 17 stolen.”
He added that this year we’ve already broken that record, having 20 memorial plaques stolen so far.
“Sometimes people, when they’re desperate enough, they’ll be reduced to options like that. And we just want to get the message out that this is not a profitable trade.”
Kellett noted that people won’t be able to sell them to recyclers and scrap dealers.
“The City of Prince George has very good relationships with all the recyclers and scrap dealers in town. Anytime anyone comes there and tries to obviously sell something as valuable and meaningful as a memorial plaque, they alert us to that.”
He added that they are valuable, but not in the way many thieves may think.
“They’re incredibly valuable, but just not in the financial way. They’re incredibly valuable obviously to the families that purchased them, and to remember a loved one.”
The City has been replacing the bronze plaques with a less valuable aluminum version, and have been replacing cedar benches with recycled plastic that makes it harder to remove the plaques, all in an effort to deter these thefts.
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