Steel beams were stolen from a memorial park in Debert, N.S. earlier this month, outraging the husband of one of the victims of the Nova Scotia April 2020 mass shooting. Nick Beaton, whose wife Kristen Beaton died during the shootings, said the beams were intended to construct a bridge in Heart’s Haven Memorial Park. The park is a six-hectare area that serves as a memorial for both Kristen and Heather O’Brien, two employees of the Victorian Order of Nurses Canada who died in the 13-hour rampage that left 22 people dead. The community effort has been in the works for two years and features trails, a gazebo, a playground and gardens.
The beams, which were each worth about $2,000, were stolen from the park between April 14-17, just days before the third anniversary of the shootings, according to Nova Scotia RCMP Sgt. Andrew Joyce. Joyce said the beams, which are each about 317 kilograms (700 pounds) and 5.5 meters (18 feet) long, likely required multiple people and equipment to steal from the site. Beaton said the beams were placed on one of the trails inside the park, almost hidden. “They had to go out of their way to find. It’s not like they stumbled upon it, and the process to get them out there wasn’t an easy process,” he said.
Beaton said the theft was “just disheartening and disgusting,” and it not only affected him but the entire community. He added that the bridge would have been up by now if the beams had not been stolen. The park is expected to open in late summer. “I just hope the people that took it, I hope that they have a lot of nights without sleep, and eventually it’s going to come out, and they’re got to live with themselves and what they’ve done,” said Beaton.
Joyce said the investigation is ongoing, and the thieves should return the beams to the park because the community is likely to find out who stole them. Joyce also said that it takes deep introspection to understand how someone could knowingly do something like this at a public site, especially around this time.