Plaque taken from monument in Kitchener’s Victoria Park

A bronze plaque has been stolen off a monument in Kitchener’s Victoria Park.

The plaque was on the Peace Monument. Photos of the plaque show that it says it was placed on the monument from the German-Canadian Business and Professional Association to mark the 100th anniversary of the park in 1996.

City staff say the plaque was reported missing by a citizen on July 25.

Staff said the missing plaque was reported to police, however, Waterloo regional police told CBC News they have no record of that report.

“In the meantime, city staff will place a temporary plaque at the location while we work towards obtaining a permanent bronze replacement plaque,” city spokesperson Shawn Falcao told CBC News in an email.

The German-Canadian Business and Professional Association of Kitchener-Waterloo says on its website that the memorial consists of a stone pedestal without the bust of Kaiser Wilhelm I, which was originally on top of a pedestal at the same spot in 1896. The bust was vandalized and removed from the memorial in 1914, then went missing in 1916.

“The original 1896 memorial commemorated the 1871 Peace of Frankfurt celebrations here in the city, and was erected on the occasion of 25th anniversary celebrations,” the association’s website says.

The theft of the plaque follows another case of a plaque being stolen earlier this year. In June, the bronze plaque honoring Const. David Nicholson and Mark Gage near the Parkhill Dam in Cambridge was taken.

Nicholson was the first officer with the Waterloo Regional Police Service to die in the line of duty back in 1998.

He was part of a rescue mission for 12-year-old Gage after the boy went missing while swimming with some friends in the Grand River.

That plaque has not yet been recovered.

Anyone with information about either of the missing plaques is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.