A group of volunteer gardeners at Cairnsmore Place, a long-term care facility in Duncan, are frustrated after the theft of some expensive gardening tools from a shed on the property.
Louise Neveu, a spokeswoman for the approximately 18 gardeners, said the group’s weed whipper and hedge trimmer, worth about $600 in total, were taken after the thief or thieves climbed the property’s fence on Feb. 2 and entered a “secure” area before they broke into the gardeners’ locked garden shed.
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“All our money is raised from community donations, in large part through our annual plant sale,” she said.
“It took us many years to have enough money left over to buy these tools. They are of very little use to anyone because one of our volunteers had taken the chargers and batteries home for the winter. I don’t want to lose faith in my ‘neighbours’, however it is getting harder.”
Neveu said she had noticed more people sleeping outdoors in the area in recent months, and the instances of graffiti in the neighbourhood had increased, but this is the first break-in of its kind in the neighbourhood that she is aware of.
“We garden at Cairnsmore Place for the pleasure of its residents because the flowers remind many of them of their homes,” she said.
“This theft is a real drain on our resources. It’s disheartening.”
The police have been contacted about the theft.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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