Dozens of plaques stolen from downtown Calgary parks, paths

Dozens of metal commemorative plaques with historic information on them were stolen from the downtown Calgary area in the last month.

Calgary police say they’re investigating the theft of multiple plaques from Princes Island Park on June 22, as well as the theft of three plaques from Sien Lok Park between June 19 and 20.

Officers are also looking into plaques that were reported missing from the south side of the Peace Bridge on June 27, and nine plaques that were taken from Olympic Plaza on June 5 — which commemorate the 1988 Olympic games.

“It’s just really heartbreaking to see that someone is defacing them, and stealing the plaques that tell a story,” said Lateshia, a downtown resident and volunteer with the city.

Lateshia noticed the metal plaques were missing from almost every park and community that she visited in the last few weeks.

“Its quite shocking to be honest. The City of Calgary parks, they’re very beautiful and we put a lot of time and energy into them. They mean a lot to the individuals within the community,” she said.

CityNews reported on plaques that were stolen from the community of Cliff-Bungalow Mission almost two months ago.

At the time, Josh Traptow, CEO of Heritage Calgary, said the thieves were likely after the materials in the plaques.

“They’re cast out of bronze, so from a scrap metal point of view, they can be turned in and turned into scrap and either be melted down by whoever is nicking them or by the metal dealer of where they’re being turned in,” Traptow said. “It’s always frustrating to see this because it just means more time, more money to get these plaques re-done.”

Lateshia says a nearby metal company told her these plaques are worthless when melted for trade in.

“They had informed me that they hadn’t had any of the City of Calgary plaques come in, that they wouldn’t accept them. And even if they were to sell them to try and melt them down, the cost would be very nominal that the individual would get back — maybe $15 to $30,” she explained.

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Meaghon Reid, executive director, Vibrant Communities Calgary, says an increasing number in small crimes and thefts is referred to as “social disorder.”

She says some people are under financial distress, making the tough choice to forego some basic needs because of the rising costs caused by inflation and high interest rates.

“Most times, people are prioritizing shelters. That might mean that they are skipping meals, it might mean that they’re skipping transportation, or not able to go to work which has sort of the opposite effect. In some cases we’ve heard of senior citizens even skipping medications.”

She says at least one third of Canadians are in this position, adding “I would expect social disorder to continue to get worse and it will continue to do so until we can do something to immediately address these systems that hold poverty in place in our province.”

As the city works to replace the stolen plaques, Lateshia suggests in the meantime that historic information be restored in parks through other methods, such as stone engravings or on polymer plaques.

“Maybe even a light where the story of the park is projected onto the stone,” said Lateshia.

If you see missing plaques, you can call police at 403-266-1234, or report a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. You can also report stolen plaques through Parks Foundation Calgary at 403-974-0751.