A White Rock woman is appealing for the return of a brass propeller that was hoisted from the front yard of her Marine Drive home this week.
Wendy Breaks said she discovered the family keepsake missing on Tuesday morning, when she went outside with plans to polish it.
“It’s just devastating,” Breaks said the next day.
“The sea is my life and my family’s life. Who would ever think someone would come in and steal my propeller?”
Breaks lives in the 14600-block of Marine Drive and believes the culprits struck overnight Monday. She also believes at least four people would have had to have been part of the crime, as the prop measured 48 inches across and weighed about 500 pounds. An anchor on the yard’s east side was lifted in by crane, she said.
“It would take four people – four big people – to lift that,” she said.
Breaks said she’d had the propeller for “a few years.” Its arrival was the culmination of research conducted by her son, Grant Meyer, who works for BC Ferries and is a White Rock city councillor.
Noting the draw for metal thieves, Breaks said she has reached out to a dozen scrap-metal buyers and shared photos and information regarding the propeller in the hopes they will keep an eye out for it. But she’s not optimistic that route will be fruitful.
“They’ve virtually told me that unfortunately, a lot of times things are chopped up before they get them,” she said.
While the propeller isn’t an heirloom, it is important to the family nonetheless, and Breaks said she is prepared to pay a cash reward for its original-condition return.
Anyone with information may contact White Rock RCMP at 778-593-3600.
