Peterborough police are looking for a suspect following a break-in at the home of B!KE, the Peterborough Community Cycling Hub.
The non-profit store at 293 George St. was targeted sometime on the night of April 21.
Once inside, the culprit or culprits spray-painted walls, ceiling and numerous bikes, according to police.
As well, police say items were stolen, including electronics, a staff member’s personal bicycle and around $300 in cash.
“BIKE’s been around 11 years now and we’ve never seen anything like this happen,” executive director Tegan Moss said.
Around the corner at the Downtown Business Improvement Area office, there is a sense of disbelief.
“To break-in to steal things is one thing. But to arbitrarily just damage the inside of a property for the sake of just being an idiot is just unconscionable,” said executive director Terry Guiel.
The DBIA has an incentive program for its members to help reduce crime in the city’s core. It offers up to half the price of a $1,500 security system to be installed in any of its member businesses.
So far, 20 merchants have signed on and B!KE will be next, Moss said.
“The (B!KE) board feels it’s important, moving forward, to take some steps to make sure that if something like this were to ever happen again, we’ve got a way to see what happened,” Moss said.
“When you catch somebody on camera, it’s a pretty quick conviction, and that gets our officers back on the street protecting our downtown,” Guiel said.
Moss said she’s grateful to the many volunteers who helped clean things up over the past few days.
And she’s sensibly calm about what happened.
“The bicycle is a tool for personal empowerment, something that can really create a sense of freedom in somebody’s life. I feel really lucky to be able to connect to that feeling, even in the wake of an event like this one,” she said.
For those who would like to help, donations are being accepted to help cover the cost of replacing stolen and damaged goods.
All inquiries can be directed to Tegan Moss at director@communitybikeshop.ca.
B!KE’s mission is to teach people to maintain, repair and ride their bikes and to advocate for people on two-wheelers.