Oak Bay Police discovered a significant amount of mischief along Oak Bay Avenue and the Bowker Creek area May 23.
Along Oak Bay Avenue, postal boxes and garbage bins were overturned and a manhole cover was removed.
“That creates public safety concerns,” said Deputy Chief Kent Thom. “Considering how frequently it happens, it’s not all that often, but when it does happen it can cause injury and property damage so we certainly want to discourage that kind of activity.”
A number of large circular light bulb covers were smashed along Bowker Creek.
“They take a lot of effort to break them … it’s not just straight glass and they’re fairly high up,” Thom said.
Irrigation pipes in the nearby school field under construction were also damaged around the same time the globes were broken.
A fair amount of traffic serves as a deterrent to damage during the day, but officers are keeping a close eye after dark.
“The creek is close to the police station here, they’re keeping an eye out there when they can,” Thom said.
Police and the municipality plan to look at potential options for the area if damage is ongoing.
“If this trend continues I’m going to sit down with public works staff and figure out alternative options to eventually eliminate this kind of behaviour because nobody benefits from this,” Thom said. “It’s senseless activity. It doesn’t serve any purpose at all.”
Police ask anyone with information to contact the department at 250-592-2424.