The City of Penticton is deciding how best to commemorate contributors to the McCulloch trestle on the KVR trail after a large number of plaques on the structure were destroyed by vandals recently.
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
November 13, 2018 - 4:00 PM
PENTICTON - The city of Penticton is picking up the pieces after an act of senseless vandalism hit the Kettle Valley Rail Trail recently.
City works superintendent John Fenske said they were notified about the vandalism on the McCulloch Trestle at Randolph Draw on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail north of Munson Mountain about a month ago.
He said at least two dozen or more commemorative plaques lining the bridge were smashed and had to be removed.
“It looked like they had been hit with a hammer, all the plaques were broken,” Fenske said today, Nov. 13. The plaques were removed after the damage was discovered.
The plaques paid homage to individuals and corporations who had donated funds to assist in the construction of the trestle.
Fenske doesn’t believe there was any intent to steal the plaques for their metal value. While he isn't sure what they are made of, he doesn't think they are made of bronze. He said they were likely made of a "pot metal," an alloy used to make castings.
“It was malicious damage, basically,” he said.
The City is working with Greyback Construction to establish a list of names that were on the plaques, with the idea of perhaps creating one commemorative plaque to cover all the contributors.
The plaques, similar to the one shown above, were made to look like bronze but were likely a common alloy used in the manufacture of castings.
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
The destroyed plaques lined the railing of the trestle spanning Randolph Draw, their past presence indicated by the lighter shaded squares of wood along the top rail.
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
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