Looking back at the unusual thefts reported in 2022

From bees and beef to famous photos and even someone’s home, a number of strange thefts have been reported this year.

CTVNews.ca looks at some of the more unusual stolen items that made headlines in 2022:

ANIMALS

RCMP in Prince Edward Island said in May they were looking for a suspect responsible for stealing a colony of bees from a property in Iris.

“We have reason to believe that whoever was involved in removing the hive had no experience handling bees – it’s very likely they were stung quite badly when the hive was moved,” said RCMP Sgt said Leanne Butler at the time.

In July, Ontario provincial police said 44 pigs worth $12,000 were stolen from a Huron County farm.

Meanwhile, pet shops and their animals were also the target of theft.

In Oak Bay, BC, on Vancouver Island, police said a man stole a betta fish, also known as a Siamese fighting fish, and two food packages in late August.

A Winnipeg woman said in November she believes her turtle was stolen after taking her tank to a local pet store.

And in early December, Hamilton police made a startling discovery while attempting to arrest a burglary suspect when a green tree python slipped out of the defendant’s jacket.

An officer at the scene used a baton to bring the python back to the reptile store, where it was allegedly stolen.

“I was like, ‘Why, why?'” Rae Delsey, a store clerk, told CTV News Toronto.

FOOD

In June, Charlottetown police said a suspect crawled through a bagel store’s drive-thru window and stole several unspecified items. Police shared security footage of the suspect climbing through the narrow window.

Over in Puslinch, Ontario, provincial police say a trailer truck loaded with $50,000 beef patties was stolen in September. Police say both the trailer and the patties were later held accountable.

The stolen patties wouldn’t even be the costliest food robbery reported in Canada this year.

Police in the Waterloo area of ​​Ontario reported in January that two tractor-trailers carrying about $363,000 worth of Ferrero Rocher chocolates were stolen last Christmas Eve.

FAMOUS CHURCHILL PHOTO STOLEN

Although it had been stolen months earlier, the theft of an iconic photograph of Sir Winston Churchill from Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier Hotel was not revealed until August.

Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh’s famous portrait was not only stolen, but replaced with a fake.

While police said they were investigating the theft, others say the photo may have already been sold.

SMALL HOME

Back in June, the Ontario Provincial Police in Essex County reported that a tiny house was stolen and later found.

Police said at the time a trailer home on which the house was located was taken from a property in Leamington and found in nearby Ruthven.

GOLF CART

Police in Ontario’s Niagara region reported in November that 44 golf carts worth nearly $450,000 were stolen from a golf course.

The suspects involved are believed to have driven each car two kilometers across the golf course, through a cut fence and onto a vineyard access road before loading them onto a transport vehicle.

“HAVE YOU SEEN MY WHEELS?”

Wellington County, Ontario, issued an unusual call for help in April after someone stole the wheels from a mobile sign trailer.

The county shared the news in a tweet showing the sign used for speed enforcement on stilts but without wheels.

LOOSE OFFICER FOUND

A life-sized cutout of a police officer disappeared over Labor Day weekend in the township of Hensall, Ontario.

Known as the “Constable Wes Coast,” local Ontario provincial police say the aluminum decoy officer was found in a ditch about eight miles away the following month.

RAILS

In March, the Waterloo Regional Police said they were investigating a reported theft of track components from a light rail system in Kitchener, Ontario.

The theft, which involved metal and wire, caused hours of service disruption.

Waterloo Police Const. Andre Johnson said that when the investigation began, it appeared that the metal components in the tracks were being targeted for their value.

‘HARRY’ THE HORSE

A life-size fiberglass horse named “Harry” that has stood outside a horse supply store in Kelowna, BC, since 1995 was reported stolen in June after someone loaded the local landmark onto a U-Haul.

“Harry” went missing for weeks until he was finally reunited with his owners the following month after a local resident found the horse covered with a tarp near an orchard where illegal dumping takes place.

GUITARS REUNITED

Several people across Canada reported being reunited with their stolen guitars, in some cases more than a decade later.

A high school teacher in Moncton, NB had his $4,000 guitar stolen from his home in the spring of 2013. Nine years later, in August, he would be reunited with her.

That same month, a musician in Edmonton received his 1964 Fender Telecaster, which was given to him 40 years ago by Canadian country music legend Big George Moody after it was stolen from his truck.

Surrey, BC police in July helped a musician locate one of 14 guitars stolen from him in 2007.

And in Winnipeg, a coffeehouse owner was reunited with her stolen guitar, a Fender Stratocaster owned by Australian musician Tash Sultana.

With files from CTV News