Two masked men have been caught on surveillance footage breaking in to Gallery 421 on Raymer Avenue in Kelowna, stealing valuable art and running away.
The two men escaped with 11 pieces of fine art worth almost 70 thousand dollars.
The stolen work included a bronze sculpture by artists Vilem Zach and Michael Hermesh, stone sculpture by Vance Theoret and blown glass by Jeff Holmwood.
Gallery owners Kelly Hanna and her husband Ken Moen say the incident took place around 2 a.m. Saturday morning.
“They were in at 1:58 and had everything out of the gallery and the door closed by 2:02, so they were only four minutes,” explains Hanna.
Most of the art stolen included sculptures weighing about 315 pounds in total.
“They focused on taking sculptures,” said Hanna.
Hanna adds that it is unfortunate to see such crime take place in the neighbourhood — something she feels is unusual for the area.
“We are going to take all the actions we can to make sure there is a successful arrest to discourage this kind of thing because it’s not good for the community.”
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Kelowna RCMP.