'Just return them': 5 more plaques stolen from Edmonton Firefighters Memorial

EDMONTON -

Plaques at a monument helping memorialize Edmonton's fallen firefighters were stolen for the second time this year.

Five more bronze plaques have been stolen from the memorial located in Old Strathcona. The monument, located at 10322 83 Ave. at Firefighters Memorial Plaza had four different plaques stolen and the memorial bell vandalized.

Noel Bugnet, a firefighter and chairman of the Edmonton Firefighters Memorial Society, told CTV News Edmonton that police reached out to him on Thursday saying they received a report of missing plaques.

"I was hoping that it was just somebody who had just not realized the belltower plaques were taken," Bugnet said. "Unfortunately, I was wrong.

"It's extremely frustrating."

For Bugnet, the most disappointing part of the theft is that it doesn't affect one person but an entire community.

"It affects several generations of families," he said. "There's a lot of people affected by this, and the money you're making off these plaques is not worth the damage you're creating.

Bugnet added that he suspects the plaques were stolen for monetary gain despite laws preventing the melting of stolen plaques. In Alberta, recycling dealers are not supposed to accept plaques without valid proof of ownership.

The memorial society is still in the process of replacing the stolen plaques from this summer, Bugnet said. The new plaques are designed to be harder to remove from the monument, which Bugnet says makes their price even more expensive.

That means less money will go to support the families of fallen firefighters.

"The entire plaza is run by volunteers, so now we have to start fundraising money to replace them, again," he said. "This is a place for families to go and remember.

"This is something we want as the legacy for those who have paid the ultimate price in our city."

In a statement to CTV News, Edmonton police said they are investigating the plaque thefts.

Bugnet says before 2021, there had only been one similar incident in the 24 years since the memorial was installed.

He urges anyone with information about the thefts to share it with police and if someone has the plaques to drop them off at any Edmonton fire station.

"Just return them," Bugnet said. "Please stop taking them."