The aftermath of a recent break-in at the Four Seasons Arena in Melfort. (submitted photo/Kim Eskowich)

By Cam Lee

Frustrating vandalism

Break-in at Melfort’s Four Seasons Arena leads to damages, theft

Jan 30, 2024 | 2:04 PM

A senseless act of vandalism at the Melfort Ag Society grounds has the president shaking his head.

Kim Eskowich told northeastNOW someone broke into the Four Seasons Arena sometime around 4:30 a.m. Jan. 26.

“They gained access through the side metal door by destroying the padlock and the deadbolt, and the frame around the door,” Eskowich said.

A picture of the door broken into at the Four Seasons Arena (Submitted/Kim Eskowich)

Once the suspect got inside, they broke the windows out of several camper units stored inside the arena.

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Another broken window after the Four Seasons Arena break-in. (Submitted/Kim Eskowich)

“Those (campers) that had locked doors they attempted and were successful at prying open several doors of campers,” explained Eskowich.

One of the campers damaged during the break-in Jan. 26. (submitted photo/Kim Eskowich)

The suspect then stole a side-by-side that was later recovered by the RCMP. Eskowich said police notified him of the theft of the side-by-side, which was located at a trailer break-in in another area of the city. The side-by-side theft alerted Eskowich to the break-in at the Four Seasons Arena.

A golf cart was also taken from the arena and hidden in the bushes on the west side of the building. A quad was also in the process of being unloaded from storage.

“It’s pretty obvious they were planning on coming back to steal more items, because they had closed it up so it didn’t look like it was broken into,” said Eskowich.

On their social media page, the Ag Society posted that an individual riding a bike with fat tires was caught on security camera breaking into the arena. They ask anyone with information on the individual or the break-in to call Melfort RCMP.

Eskowich said the property vandalism at the Ag Society has been getting worse each year.

“We have all kinds of vandalism events every year, whether it’s breaking into the food booths or…they broke into the office here. There’s nothing of value to be taken, so it’s literally just damage to property. Senseless damage.”

In this case, Eskowich said there was a considerable amount of damage done to the camper units stored inside the complex. All of the larger stolen items have been recovered, but Eskowich said there may be other items taken from the campers, or perhaps some small tools from the building.

“They made a hell of a mess.”

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cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK