Business owners seek stolen Buddhas

Business owners in Sechelt awoke Dec. 9 to find their two awakened ones had been stolen from their storefront.

“It’s super bad karma to steal a Buddha – double that to steal two of them,” said Kelly Oswald, who owns gift and décor shop The Oracle with her husband, James.

The pair said their two 1.5-metre, 34-kilogram (5 ft., 75 lb.) Buddhas were stolen at about 5 a.m. Wednesday.

The Buddhas were sourced from Bali, Indonesia and had been sitting outside their storefront at 5644 Cowrie St. for the past three weeks after the Oswalds had moved their business to that location from Wharf Avenue.

“We had a giant Buddha at the store on Wharf and nobody ever touched it,” said Kelly Oswald, adding the pair also have similar statues at a storefront in West Vancouver.

The business owners have reported the matter to the RCMP, and the file remains under investigation. They have also been supplied with surveillance footage of the incident.

This isn’t the first time thieves have shown a taste for the religious figure. At least two other Sechelt residents have reported Buddha thefts from their residential properties this year, though Staff Sgt. Poppy Hallam said she was not aware of any links between the incidents. 

The Oswalds, meanwhile, are appealing to the public to assist them with their recovery efforts.

“We’d love to get them back, no questions asked,” said Kelly Oswald. “Just bring them home.”