Thieves make off with pricey plaques

With churchgoers staying home, the police aren’t sure exactly when the bronze plaque at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church was stolen.

It was reported missing Feb. 29 and is now part of a city-wide investigation focused on 12 such pilfered plaques.

The theory is that the commemorative plaques were taken for their value on the scrap metal market.

“It’s a theory — but we don’t know for certain,” said Elizabeth Popowich, spokesperson with the Regina Police Service.

“We don’t, in fact, have confirmation that they’re connected, but they certainly are similar.”

The first such theft was reported Feb. 28, but by mid-march, an investigator in the property crime section noticed a trend in the city. The last reported theft was on April 20.

“In many cases, the people who either care for or look after where the plaques are affixed to couldn’t say for certain when it went missing,” said Popowich.

In terms of locations, the plaques have been taken from the south and south central parts of Regina.

Some of the missing plaques — mostly taken from churches, parks and heritage sites — have been valued individually at $5,000, according to Popowich.

It’s not certain the plaques were stolen with the intention of selling them, but if they are, scrap metal and metal recycling businesses will be on the lookout.

Karen Kissner, owner of Regina’s CMS Metal Products Ltd., said a necessary part of the industry is keeping an eye on what’s purchased, scrutinizing if it’s stolen property.

“You buy it, you lose it,” she said. “We buy it, we pay out $1,000, we lose the $1,000 and if it’s stolen then we lose the product, too.”

Kissner said staff speak with police on a weekly basis. If they hear that something has been stolen and it turns up in their shop, Kissner and Steve Meston, supervisor, will stall the seller until police arrive.

“A lot of times we put ourselves at risk doing that, but we don’t want it here,” said Kissner.

As for the recent thefts, she’s skeptical that thieves will try to sell the plaques now.

“It’s been in the media. They’re not going to try to sell that in Regina,” said Kissner.

As for pulling the plaques off churches and monuments, Kissner said that’s a bit new for them.

“I can’t even fathom that,” she said.

In their business, Kissner said, they often deal with people trying to sell materials for quick money. They say drug addiction can fuel many of these thefts.

“We see it daily. It’s sad. It’s scary.”

At CMS, Kissner said their security system “is like Fort Knox,” but at one time they relied on dogs. They don’t anymore. Kissner said after one guard dog was killed by a thief, they decided to move away from dogs as the primary means of security and go more high tech.

Police have yet to recover much evidence and have little information on the file.

With so many people staying home and given the uncertainty of when exactly the plaques were stolen, police are asking for anyone with information to come forward.