Earlier this month, Mission RCMP became aware of ongoing vandalism at Fraser River Heritage Park.
An unknown suspect(s) has been vandalizing the park benches that were placed in memory and honour of loved ones. The most recent report, on April 16, involved the spray painting of “666” on the benches.
The Mission RCMP are currently following investigative leads in order to identify a suspect.
“The fact that these were memorial benches makes the crime all the more detestable. We picture our families name on those benches and it motivates us to follow every lead and over-turn every stone,” said Corp. Nathan Berze of the Mission RCMP.
Recently on a local Facebook group, residents of Mission have been taking a pro-active approach and collecting reward money in order to encourage information that will lead to the arrest of the suspect.
The Mission RCMP want to remind the public that they do not collect money or facilitate reward processes in anyway.
“While this is an amazing effort and shows the ownership people have over their community, we encourage rewards for information be facilitated through Crimestoppers. They are a professionally recognized organization and trained to handle and distribute sensitive information as well as manage rewards,” said Berze.
If you have any information regarding this investigation, you are encouraged to call the Mission RCMP detachment at 604-826-7161 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).