THIEVES and vandals turned what should have been a long weekend full of sunshine and sport into an expensive headache for Highlands Little League.
The non-profit group was in the middle of hosting its first annual Canada Day tournament for 11-year-old players at Delbrook Park when someone decided to steal more than just bases.
"On Saturday night, after we shut down and put everything back in our storage facility," said league president John Jackson, "the lock was cut off and the culprits stole hamburgers, hot dogs, smokies, pop, Gatorade and probably about $250 worth of candy. They also scooped up the four coolers that we had borrowed from our members."
Jackson estimated the immediate losses to be around $700, plus the cost of repairing the building and replacing the locks.
To add insult to injury, the thieves left human feces on the ground's home plate.
The league has only offered a concession twice this year, and each time the park has been struck by thieves, said Jackson.
"It was exactly the same manner as what happened on our opening day in April. They just flung stuff all over the place. It was the same cuts, and they went straight for food and drinks and didn't touch the barbecues or anything," he said.
Jackson said the league is insured, but will likely end up absorbing the costs to protect their deductible. The concession was also left with barely any goods to sell on the tournament's final day.
"It certainly put us behind. That money, that would have been the profit from the tournament that goes back into running our league," he said. "That helps player development, buys new equipment and so on. That's why we put so much effort into doing a great job and running a great tournament.
"It's kind of shite that some goofballs would do that. I probably worked 12 hours a day each day Friday, Saturday, Sunday to do this for the league - myself and a committee - and you have it all for naught because of ignorance like this. Tons of people gave up their Canada Day long weekend in order to help Highlands Little League establish this tournament."
Cpl. Peter DeVries, spokesman for the North Vancouver RCMP, said police have no suspects at this point, but encouraged anyone with information to contact the detachment at 604-985-1311.
"It's absolutely disheartening that a theft of this sort has an impact on the youth of our community who use these facilities, he said. "We certainly hope to find who is responsible and bring them before a judge to answer for what they've done."
