A Nanaimo household is missing its statue.
Richard Cameron, who lives on Lasalle Road in north Nanaimo, awoke last week to find a statue he’d had in front of his home was gone, but a quick check of security camera footage revealed how it went missing.
Just before 4 a.m. April 28, someone walked up to the front entrance, took a quick peek through the front door and then grabbed the 30-kilogram statue and walked off with it. The video shows the culprit taking a shortcut across the front lawn, likely to a vehicle parked on Lewis Road.
Cameron said the statue has been in front of the home for 18 of the 25 years he and his wife have lived there and this is the first time they’ve had anything stolen.
The one-metre-tall piece depicts a woman with her arms folded. Cameron doesn’t remember what he paid for it, perhaps $500, and says it’s not a huge loss, but he’d like to get it back if possible and there’s principle at stake.
“You almost feel guilty. It’s not that big a deal, but then you think, well, if everyone just gives up you may as well just let everyone take whatever they want,” Cameron said.
He’s concerned about other items potentially being taken, including a bench he’s put out on the edge of his property for people to rest on while walking up Lewis Road, which is on a hill.
“These people must have been parked right beside it and you think, well, should I leave it there or are they going to come back for that too?” he said.
The suspect waited until the yard lights around the house had gone out and the statue was not highly visible from the road, so it’s possible the culprit had been on the property prior to the theft.
The security video appears to show a male suspect wearing a light-colour ball cap, dark jacket, light pants and dark running shoes.
“I hope that someone sees this and makes him nervous and makes hims sort of sweat it out for a little while,” Cameron said.
Anyone with information about the suspect or the whereabouts of the statue is asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP detachment’s non-emergency number at 250-754-2345 and quote file No. 2021-15361.
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