The three-day Aldergrove Fair reported record-high attendance numbers, according to Aldergrove Festival Days Society vice-president Mike Robinson.
The well-attended event was not without its hiccups though – including a theft of an International Movie Services’ (IMS) military vehicle on Saturday night.
It was “something surprising” that happened during Loverboy’s set, Robinson said.
An all-terrain military gator, lent to the fair from IMS, was nabbed by two male suspects under the cover of night.
Owner Ian Newby of the military props organization (which also doubles as the Canadian Museum of the Armed Forces) was able to track down its takers on security footage.
By Monday afternoon, IMS employees were led to 268B Street, where the suspects had “ran it into a tree, punched the ignition and killed the battery.”
Upon its recovery IMS employees noticed taped engine wires, which led Newby to believe someone intended to return for the m-gator.
Newby estimates the vintage vehicle’s worth at $21,000, what it sells for online. He says the only repair needed is a new ignition switch.
The vehicle was first used by Canadian Armed Forces for recognisance and extraction missions in rural areas.
The company has owned the heavy-duty vehicle for 9 years, first retrieving it from an armed forces base in Esquimalt, Vancouver Island.
Newby thought it would come in handy for fair volunteers throughout the weekend.
“These things happen, it’s all a part of life. You can’t let it get you down,” Newby told the Aldergrove Star.