On Sunday, Moncton, N.B., scoutmaster Jeff Melvin received a call telling him that the storage unit housing the camping equipment for the 1st Moncton BPSA Scouting Troops had been broken into.
“We got there to take a look at it and found the trailer was quite empty, and they essentially just took all of our key gear that we need to go camping in the woods,” he said on Wednesday.
More than $8,000 worth of camping equipment, including tents, canopies, bucksaws and hammocks, was stolen from the trailer.
He said while the scouts’ activities are insured, they weren’t able to insure the gear, meaning they’ll need fundraise thousands of dollars to replace it.
He said thieves broke into several units in the Riverside Storage facility, and apparently cut the latch above the lock on the trailer.
“There’s not anything that I could have changed to make the trailer any more secure,” Melvin said.
“We had (the trailer) backed up against something so the back gate can’t be opened. We have puck locks that can’t be cut off but if somebody comes in and cuts the doors open on it, cuts the hinges on it, cuts the latches, I can’t stop that,” he said.
He said they would be installing an alarm on the trailer when they find a new storage site for the trailer.
Riverside Storage declined to comment on the story.
Melvin has reported the theft to the Codiac RCMP.
He said the scout troop has a hammocking camping trip planned in early October, which will no longer be possible without the stolen hammocks.
He said the kids in the troop look forward to hammock camping all year round and will be disappointed.
“It’s such a unique thing. Not just anybody does hammocking and to be in the deep woods sleeping in a hammock is quite neat,” he said.
Melvin said they are looking to borrow tents and other equipment from community members so they can proceed with the upcoming camping trip as a short-term solution.
They have launched a crowdfunding campaign online to raise the funds to replace the equipment.