Poppy jar theft shocks coffee shop workers

Staff members at a Tim Hortons in Dartmouth, N.S., are furious after a poppy jar was stolen from the counter of their store.

Surveillance video from the coffee shop on Main Street near Forest Hills Parkway shows a man slowly moving the poppy can closer to the counter's edge early Wednesday morning.

When staff members walk away, the man takes the poppies and money before leaving the store.

Lillis McInnis, a supervisor at the store, said she is upset about the theft.

"My father-in-law was in the war, his brother was taken a prisoner of war, my grandchildren are learning about what Remembrance Day means … and to have someone come in — not a teenager, a grown man probably in his 50s or 60s — and steal from the vets, it really disappoints me," she said.

McInnis said she's worked for Tim Hortons for 20 years and has never seen anything like it.

"When we looked at the video … I stood there and I cried," she said.

"It really is emotional to me because Remembrance Day does mean a lot to me and it means a lot to the girls I work with. We support the vets and to think not only that our grandfathers or fathers-in-law fought for the war, we have younger ones over there now that's losing their life, and to have someone go and steal, to me — I can't believe it."

Tim Hortons staff members are urging anyone with information to contact police.