Thousands of dollars worth of equipment was stolen and even more in damage was done after thieves ravaged a rural property near Skutz Falls.
“Someone was there about two to four days ago, we are guessing,” said property owner Samuel Lockhart on March 15. “It wasn’t the best way to start to move there. We are just starting to develop.”
Lockhart has a heavy duty shipping container on the property locked up tight with high-end locks and further protected by a heavy duty lock protector welded onto the unit.
“We are thinking at least two people participated in the theft,” Lockhart said. “They must have used a grinder or such to cut through the welded lock box.”
Inside the container, Lockhart had about 4,000 pounds of steel shelf racks which he’d just finished making for a local business.
“The thieves had to remove all of the racks to get to the big items they stole,” he said. “Of course they left the steel racks out in the rain, causing them to rust.”
Lockhart figures more than $8,000 of hard work was ruined.
“Hopefully we can grind them all off, to paint, but its going to take a bunch more effort which costs us.”
Beyond the racks, Lockhart had stored a snow blower and a lawn mower — the farthest items away from the doors of the 40-foot container.
Also stolen from the property was a large trailer.
“Our neighbors said a few nights ago they saw a big black truck with a trailer hooked up right at our driveway entrance,” Lockhart said. “We are thinking that was probably our trailer and it was in the middle of being stolen.
The trailer was loaded with a new glass green house which Lockhart’s family was going to put up to plant in.
“Of course they threw those all on the ground and broke them,” he said.
The trailer is very large, and unlike anything else on the road.
“It should be very easy to spot, even if someone repainted the entire thing,” he said.
Lockhart hopes members of the community keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
“If they did it to us, they probably did it to someone else or are going to,” he said. “These people deserve to have the book thrown hard at them. If someone took the same amount of time they did to steal and ruin all our stuff, and got a job the world would be a better place.”
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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