By Kevin Gilby
CRAIK—The RCMP were kept busy in the middle of January dealing with a rash of break-ins in the town of Craik.
On, or about, the evening of Jan. 15, the Town Office, Palliser Library, and Oral History room were all broken into. The Craik Legion Hall was also illegally entered at a later date.
Town administrator Sarah Wells says that the break-in at the town office resulted in two office doors needing to be replaced but nothing was reported missing. She suspects that the office was likely the first target, and when that didn’t prove fruitful, other targets were sought.
Jo McAlpine, Palliser librarian, reported that the thief, or thieves, attempted to enter the library via the front glass door. Despite damaging the door frame, the thieves ended up gaining entry by forcing a window near the rear of the building open.
McAlpine said, “The Craik Library lost less than $20 in photocopy money but it will cost the town a lot more to fix the door and window that were damaged in the break-in. With a bank just down the block there is never more a few quarters in the library cash.”
According to McAlpine, the thieves also entered the Oral History room where approximately $5 in loose change was taken. No other items were reported missing.
Then, between Jan. 16 and 19, the Craik Legion Hall was broken into. Lions President Kati Exelby said, “We know this time-line because when the walking club was there Friday everything was in its place. The cleaner of the hall discovered that someone had broke in when she went to clean on Sunday.”
“There may have been a couple dollars in one of the drawers of the cabinet that they wrecked beyond repair. Luckily for us nothing else was damaged” Kati adds. “We cannot figure out how they got in, but unfortunately they did.”
The Craik RCMP initiated an investigation into the break-ins. It is unknown if the same individual or individuals are responsible for the break-ins.