A memorial plaque honouring a 20-year-old Calgary woman has gone missing. The bronze plaque paid tribute Lorr Kharfan, who lost her life in a car crash near Turner Valley on Sept. 27, 2016.
Her family raised money to put a memorial plaque in one of Kharfan’s favorite places.
It sat underneath a small oak tree and had only been there about a month. When Lorr’s twin sister, Lamess, went by the spot last week she noticed it had disappeared.
“I was in shock — where could it be?” Lamess said Thursday.
“A big part of me thought, ‘There’s no way anyone could ever steal that.’ To think somebody could look at that and be OK with stealing it was just so shocking.
“I can’t believe there’s a person out there who could do that.”
The bronze piece had Lorr’s name inscribed on it as well as a poem. It was located in the southeast community of Parkland, overlooking Fish Creek Provincial Park.
“This is where she came to just be,” Lamess said. “She would come here with friends and family, to be alone if she needed to be, and this whole path meant a lot to her and it means a lot to us.”
It was encased in concrete and the family said it would have taken some work for someone to remove it.
“To think someone came out here with a shovel to dig the concrete out and how heavy it was to get the plaque out,” Lamess Kharfan said, “it’s just terrible.”
The family is desperate to have it returned and posted a sign on a bench near the memorial spot.
After hearing about the family’s situation, the City of Calgary’s parks department told Global News it’s planning to replace the plaque for the family at no cost to them.