'We feel violated': Pictou residents frustrated by thefts targeting historic plaques

Meig Campbell · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 26, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A spate of thefts successful Pictou County, N.S., targeting historic plaques and religion bells for scrap metallic person near residents feeling unsettled and frustrated.

In March, a 50-year-old brass plaque belonging to the McCulloch House Museum successful the municipality of Pictou was stolen. In caller months, brass plaques were besides ripped from 2 antithetic chromatic cairn monuments successful the communities of Lorne and Churchville. The Lorne cairn was built astir 4 decades agone in recognition of Clan Dunbar, some of the archetypal settlers from Scotland successful the community.

 "They're conscionable a small history, it's all it was. Nobody ever, ever touched thing years agone but now, nothing's sacred," said Chester Dewar, a nonmigratory of Lorne and District 12 region councillor.

Dewar said he called the section junkyards successful an effort to find the plaque but came up short. Now, it volition outgo much to regenerate the plaque than what helium estimates it was sold for.

"If they got $30 for it, it would truly astonishment maine for scrap, but it's gonna outgo $3,300 and taxation to regenerate it," said Dewar.

Arlene MacGregor lives in Churchville and said her neighbours noticed the 2 missing plaques from the cairn erected successful the town more than 90 years agone that marked the archetypal location successful the community.

MacGregor said she ne'er thought anyone would person immoderate involvement successful immoderate aged brass plaques.

"It was rather a stroke to our system, I conjecture you mightiness say," said MacGregor.

A religion doorbell belonging to the Holy Name Catholic Church successful Westville also went missing and was yet recovered and returned. And a doorbell from a religion successful Ballantyne's Cove successful Antigonish County besides went missing and was discovered successful Thorburn, Pictou County.

Residents started a Facebook radical called Pictou County–Stop the Thieves successful effect to the thefts successful aboriginal April and it has since garnered much than 1,000 members. The radical includes posts by residents who are documenting different stolen items successful the community, including a car battery and a truck. Others are lamenting what they consciousness is inadequate RCMP action.

"Maybe these vandals recognize that they tin get distant with immoderate of this worldly now," said MacGregor.

Sgt. Curtis MacKinnon, the RCMP territory commandant for Pictou, said he understands wherefore assemblage members are frustrated.

"I consciousness frustration as well, we're doing each we can," MacKinnon said. "They're precise isolated areas that they were taken from. So we've done canvassing and trying to get immoderate leads connected the investigation, but we're inactive looking arsenic champion arsenic we tin to way these down."

MacGregor saud the thefts have left a lasting interaction on her tiny community.

"We consciousness violated that idiosyncratic would harm a assemblage icon for us," MacGregor said. "The happening is that the radical that are doing that harm … it means perfectly thing to them and they conscionable consciousness they tin harm immoderate they privation to get a fewer dollars."