Plaques honouring war veterans, history go missing in Edmonton
More than a dozen metal plaques honouring Canada’s veterans and military history are missing from north Edmonton’s Griesbach neighbourhood in what residents are calling a “brazen and co-ordinated” theft.
The 15 plaques — made out of a metal alloy — were pulled from their concrete bases sometime between Sunday and Monday, members of the Griesbach Community League said in a statement.
“It’s very upsetting,” said community league president Brad Tilley. “It’s not just the plaques, it’s what they represent.”
Residents discovered the plaques were missing Monday evening.
The neighbourhood was once a military garrison, and was developed into a residential community by the Canada Lands Corp. The signs, statues and memorial mark the country’s military history. The plaques sat at the end of each street, which bear the names of soldiers and battles ranging from the First World War to Canada’s peacekeeping missions.
They include Alex Decoteau, an Olympic athlete who joined the Edmonton Police Service in 1911 and was the first Indigenous police officer in Canada. Decoteau was killed at the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917.
Also commemorated is Andrew Gault, a brigadier-general who created the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry regiment.
Tilley said the plaques appear to be bronze, but are in fact made of a mix of metals. They would be of little value to a thief interested in melting them down for money, he added.
However, the plaques themselves cost as much as $2,500, and Tilley said it would be difficult for the community league to raise enough money for their replacement.
“My message would be these aren’t something that’s a piece of scrap metal,” he said. “These are Canadian history.”
He asked anyone with information to contact the community league or Edmonton police.