Reward offered for information about vandalized machinery in western P.E.I.
'Makes you wonder what kind of people are around you'
The owner of an excavation company in western P.E.I. is trying to find out who is responsible for damaging one of his machines.
Kendal Gallant, owner of Northern Enterprises in Unionvale, P.E.I., said when he arrived to work Tuesday morning he found one of his company's machines, a Caterpillar loader, had been vandalized.
He said all the windows on the machine including the windshield and one of the rearview mirrors had been broken and there were stones scattered throughout the cab.
"Makes you wonder what kind of people are around you," Gallant said.
'Hurts your bottom line'
Northern Enterprises has about 10 tractors on the property and one of the other excavators also received minor damage, he said.
This isn't the first time the company's machines have been tampered with — Gallant said a few weeks ago, he discovered one of his company's trucks had been taken from the property.
This latest incident has made him even more cautious, he said.
"It hurts your bottom line," Gallant said. "You don't want to put yourself out there as much as you have been … because everything you do is a risk. So you gotta kinda take your risk management and deal with it I guess."
Owner offering reward
Gallant estimates the repairs will cost him about $10,000 and will require specific parts that must be ordered from a supplier, which means it could take up to a month to fix the broken windows.
Gallant is offering a $1,000 reward for anyone who can name the person or people responsible for damaging his equipment.
"If I can sleep better at night, knowing that the person who's responsible had paid his dues and won't do it again, and it shows I don't want people doing stuff to my machinery, it's worth it to me," Gallant said.
He he will also be taking extra precautions, including locking every door on his machines at the end of the day and looking into installing surveillance cameras near his equipment, he said.
Gallant said he has also reported the vandalism to the RCMP and they are currently investigating.
