ATHABASCA — Athabasca residents have expressed concern and frustration online after an Aug. 4 incident left another downtown plant display in pieces.
Lois Robocon, owner of Birchmeadow Greenhouses, made a Facebook post featuring photos of plants in a raised bed in front of the Great Canadian Dollar Store on 50th Street showing signs of damage, and many commenters echoed the sentiment the summer has been rife with incidents of minor vandalism across town.
Robocon installs and maintains the various local plant displays and said in an Aug. 9 interview this isn’t the first time herself and her employees had to repair the displays and it likely won’t be the last.
“We’ve been hit a number of times this year,” said Robocon. “There’s always something … it’s a public place and 99.9 per cent of the individuals out there are good people, and it only takes a little, less than one per cent, but they can make a nasty impact.”
No plants were stolen during the incident, but several large perennial leaves were cut off plants Robocon has been caring for, propagating, and replanting for three years. While the damage to cut and torn plants couldn’t be repaired, Robocon said an employee was able to salvage and re-plant others.
A similar incident occurred two months ago July 14, which Robocon said resulted in “a significant amount of damage” to planters along multiple streets in town. Damage included broken and overturned planters as well as dug-up and mangled plants.
Athabasca RCMP Cpl. Dan Fenton said in an Aug. 11 interview there isn’t always a clear plan of action when it comes to responding to minor, yet disruptive vandalism events.
“If we’re able to identify who it is, we definitely act on that, and we bring them in front of a judge to have the judges ask what should happen to these individuals,” said Fenton.
And often, determining who was responsible after the fact isn’t possible, even if police or community members have an idea who the culprit is.
“The problem isn’t in us catching these people, it’s in these people staying caught,” said Fenton. “There aren’t the same repercussions associated with that stuff that there used to be.”
Athabasca RCMP have increased compliance checks with individuals granted conditional release, and Fenton said the extra effort can “definitely” be seen reflected in the rates of property crime in the area.
According to the RCMP Provincial Policing Report released in May this year, another officer received specialized Property Crime Examiner (PCE) training, increasing the number of PCE-trained officers from two to three. The report states these officers “have still been very active assisting on property crime files” and that “communication with detachment members has increased significantly in regard to problem areas within the detachment area.”
Incidents of mischief (damage to property) reported between January and March were lower this year compared to 2022, but only by one, according to the statistics from the May report.
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