NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — More than a dozen chairs were stolen at the Downtown Norfolk Community Garden Thursday morning.
According to a Facebook post, 14 locked chairs were stolen from the garden’s community seating area between 4:45 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. The suspects also attempted to take the anchored tables.
The seating area is a public-private partnership with the city of Norfolk government, Downtown Norfolk Council and Mermaid Winery.
“It’s a beautiful area just to be able to get away,” said Jack Ferguson, a property chairman for Freemason Baptist Church.
Ferguson said that the garden is an oasis right in the heart of the Mermaid City. It features flowers, vegetables and the seating area.
He explained that it was frustrating to hear that it was the target of a theft.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, really? They took the chairs,” Ferguson said.
He said the chairs all together were worth about $2,500, and that they were a donation by Mermaid Winery. He believes the thief used bolt cutters to get through the bicycle locks used to secure them.
“I’m 76 years old, so I’m never surprised anymore about what people will do,” Ferguson said.
Tuesday night was the organization’s scheduled monthly potluck, but they had to cancel due to the theft.
Ferguson said their biggest lead now is a screenshot from a security camera showing a person standing near the chairs around the time they were taken.
They have a camera on the church next door, but the thief mainly stayed out of frame during the duration of the crime, Ferguson explained. He said they are hoping other nearby cameras might have caught a better angle of the crime when it took place.
Meanwhile, he said that they are grateful for how the community has come out in waves to support them.
“We have two individuals, Patricia Smith and Tony Brothers, the NBA referee and owner of Brothers Restaurant, who have committed $3,000 for the replacement of these chairs,” Ferguson said. “So that is really fantastic. We’re looking forward to getting everything back just in time for the fall and get things moving back again.”
The Downtown Norfolk Community Garden is also offering a $500 reward for any evidence leading to arrest or return of the chairs.
