The Sault Ste. Marie Museum's executive director says other historical plaques located around the city may be at risk as even more have been identified as missing.
Late last month, the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion confirmed that a bronze casting was missing of the citation William Merrifield received when he was awarded the British Empire's highest military honour for his contributions in the First World War. The irreplaceable casting had been situated for years on a pedestal near the cenotaph, directly in front of the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse.
This week, two other historical plaques located nearby have also been noticed missing: one in front of the Bell building on Queen Street at Ron Francis Way and another nearby at the International Lot, commemorating the former location of the International Hotel.
All of the plaques offer people a sense of place for where historical events happened and offer residents a point of pride, said William Hollingshead, executive director of the Sault Ste. Marie Museum.
"I think to have them removed is disrespectful," said Hollingshead by phone on Thursday.
With at least three plaques now missing, Hollingshead said he believes others around the city are definitely at risk.
Hollingshead said he does not believe the plaques have been removed for cleaning or preservation.
"We are probably the only qualified ones for bronze and brass restoration and conservation and we did not remove it," he said. "We are working on the cenotaph to restore the lettering and stone but we do not remove items for conservation purposes."
He said the plaques are typically distributed by the Municipal Heritage Committee or by the Ontario Heritage Trust. In the case of the Merrifield casting, it was made available to the public by the Legion.
"The Merrifield one was bolted down and glued to the pedestal," said Hollingshead. "They had to have a tool to unbolt it, you can't just pry that up."
On Wednesday, Legion Branch 25 executive member Helen Stewart expressed frustration that more isn't being done to recover the casting in a social media post.
"I hope there are folks out there looking where they walk, bike, ride, ATV, whatever that are looking out for this bronze cast," she said. "If you come across it, could you please telephone the Legion at 705 945 8721 and let us know — we can make arrangements to get it - mighty heavy object."