About a dozen mini Canadian flags were stolen from the Rotary Club of Qualicum Beach Sunrise during Canada Day celebrations Sunday.
The Qualicum Beach Rotary had placed 25 Canadian flags on flag poles on the roundabout at Memorial Avenue and Rupert Road and on the meridians along Memorial Avenue early Sunday morning, according to a press release from the Rotary Club on Monday.
“The display of all these flags was an awesome sight to those driving into Qualicum Beach via Memorial Avenue,” Qualicum Beach Rotary past-president Gordon Mebs said in the news release. “When the Rotary club went to take down the flags at 8:30 p.m., approximately 10-12 of the flags and poles had been stolen.”
Mebs told Black Press that the flags are placed in metal stakes, but the stakes were left behind, adding that it was probably “just a quick grab.”
He said the Rotary planned to grab the flags before the end of the day because they thought “that might be too much of a temptation in the night time.”
Mebs said this is a loss of about $400 to $500 to the Sunrise Rotary club.
The Rotary is asking anyone who has information on the stolen flags to contact the Oceanside RCMP at 250-248-6111.
The flags, according to the release, are mounted on eight-foot white flag poles that have a blue decal on the pole identifying them as property of the Qualicum Beach Rotary. On the top of the flag pole is a red and white two-inch ball with a red maple leaf.