Park signs stolen for a pittance
By: Candy Sartell 03/01/2006
For park enthusiasts, it seemed oddly suspicious that many bronze plaques along North Mississippi Regional Park trails were discovered missing on January 29. Suspicious because the plaques disappeared from concrete pads, with bolts scattered, sometime over that weekend. As it turns out 36 bronze plaques were stolen from the park.
When notified of the missing plaques, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) staff acted quickly by making a police report and faxing it, along with pictures of the plaques, to local scrap yards in case someone attempted to turn them in for money. But it turned out that the thieves had already done so before the report was made to the scrap yards. Luckily Scrappy’s Recycling Express requires and records the driver’s license and vehicle plate number of everyone selling material — when realizing they received some of the stolen plaques, they informed police which led to the arrest of three individuals who have been charged with felony theft and felony for receiving stolen goods.
The bronze plaques, valued at $13,000, were part of a McKnight Foundation grant and used in conjunction with a self-guided booklet in park programming for plant and wildlife identification. Each plaque weighed approximately 15 pounds. Of the 36 plaques stolen, only 19 have been recovered from two scrap yards. Those recovered were determined by the material weight — they were cut up beyond repair though were still identifiable. The thieves received 95 cents per pound for their efforts totaling close to $300. MPRB Environmental Education Coordinator MaryLynn Pulscher says the Park Board is pursuing restitution of the stolen plaques and “the goal is to recast and replace” them.
The plaque frames remain empty, leaving newcomers to wonder ‘what’s missing?’ And frequent park visitors are angry about a crime for a pittance and a blatant contempt of a public amenity. If you have any information about the plaques still missing or saw a 1990 to 1999 sky blue Chevy S10 pickup in or around the park the last weekend of January, call 612-230-6550.