Normally, Virginia Park would wake up on the weekend to the smell of her planters wafting in from the yard. But this Saturday, June 29, she woke up to the site of an empty post where her planter once hung.
The planter weighed about 40 pounds or so, according to Park, who was especially saddened because it happened during the Canada Day long weekend.
“[The planter] wasn’t just for us, it was for our neighbours,” said Park. “For someone to snag that from you, you feel violated.
READ MORE: ‘Very rare event’ — two main parachutes fail at Okanagan skydive festival
“I wasn’t going to report it to police.”
But eventually, Park reckoned it wasn’t about the monetary value of the plant, rather than the principle of stealing belongings off of somebody’s property; so she called RCMP.
After reporting the incident to police, she was informed there had been a few similar petty thefts around Glenmeadows over the last few days.
“Apparently this has been happening since Thursday,” she said.
On Sunday, after she got in touch with a neighbour who had an incident at their house, Park walked over to one of her fellow neighbours’ apartment complex to watch security footage logged on Saturday at 2 a.m. What she saw was an SUV driving past the front of the grounded apartment before pulling back, waiting a few moments, someone exiting the car, then getting back in a minute or two later and driving away. They suspect this person may be the culprit.
READ MORE: Police chase ends in arrest of two suspects in South Okanagan after attempted car theft
The thief stole more planters, solar lamps and other various landscaping and gardening tools from her neighbour’s house.
Park wishes to inform fellow residents to lock up their planters with green gardener wires as you can never be too sure what may go missing from your yard.
Park and her husband brought the other planters into her backyard and chained up their barbeque as a precaution.
@davidvenn_
David.venn@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.