The Sarnia Police Service says it's investigating the theft of a historic bell from the grounds at Sarnia’s Lochiel Kiwanis Community Centre.
"The George Street School Bell was on display on the grounds of the Lochiel-Kiwanis Center at 180 College Avenue, North and is an important part of Sarnia's history," police said in a news release this week.
Police are looking for anyone who may have taken photos or video of the bell in the last couple of weeks, or anyone who may have witnessed activity at the site.
"Furthermore, scrap metal dealers in southwestern Ontario are asked to contact the Sarnia Police Service if any customer has attended, or attends, attempting to turn in the historic bell."
Staff at the Lochiel Kiwanis Centre say the missing bell was brought to their attention this week.
“It’s something that’s kind of in the background, unnoticed, that we don’t see every day — unless you’re driving by it," the centre’s administrator Tammy Marin told The Journal.
The bell had been part of a monument on the grounds of McGibbon Park, along College Ave., commemorating the site of the former George Street School and its first principal, Alexander Wark.
The bell was the only remaining relic of the school, which was demolished in 1938.
“We’ve been told now on social media by a couple of people that they noticed it missing a week, or even two weeks out now,” Marin said. “So, we’re unsure when this has happened and unfortunately our camera footage doesn't reach out that far enough to capture anything suspicious.”
Marin said staff called Sarnia Police and the City of Sarnia when they learned the bell was missing.
“It’s got to be over 300-pounds,” she added.
According to a Sarnia Heritage document, the George Street Bell was initially mounted atop a stone cairn, inside the school fence along George Street, and was moved twice, each time with a new base.
During moves, the time capsule inside the base was opened and copies of some of the original contents were displayed at the Lambton Heritage Museum, while others can be viewed inside the Kiwanis Centre.
The original contents, along with new ones were buried inside the new cairn, and the bell received heritage designation in 1998.
“There’s been a lot of things in the community that have gone missing lately, to be melted for profit,” Marin said. “If it’s been gone for this long, our biggest fear is that it has probably been melted down by now.”