Eric Flintoff can only shake his head in amazement that someone would steal a plaque from his Kent company’s flag pole dedicated to the people who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
A thief cut through stainless steel bolts someday last month to remove the brass plaque for its scrap metal value.
“I was just shocked somebody would take that plaque and sell it for scrap or whatever,” said Flintoff, president of Medosweet Farms along First Avenue South, south of Willis Street. “It’s despicable because of what it represented.”
The company is offering a $500 reward for the return of the plaque with no questions asked. Call Medosweet Farms at 253-852-4110 with information about the missing plaque. Flintoff estimated the scrap value is only about $10 to $15.
“I’d love to see that plaque be returned,” Flintoff said. “It means a lot to us.”
Medosweet Farms employs 75. One of the employees discovered the missing plaque from the flag pole in the parking lot outside of the offices and warehouse.
“They were in disbelief that somebody would do something like that,” Flintoff said about the reaction of employees.
Kent Police took a report about the theft. Police do not have any leads in the case.
“I do not believe it is very common to have items such as this stolen, however copper thieves go through great lengths to steal,” said Kent Police spokeswoman Melanie Fraizer in an email. “I have not heard of any thefts such as this.”
Cliff Flintoff, the father of Eric, started Medosweet Farms in 1975 after he leased a truck from Smith Brothers Farms to run an independent home dairy delivery route. Medosweet Farms now delivers dairy and other products to restaurants, hotels, espresso shops, bakeries and institutions.
The company decided after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 to honor those who lost their lives on that day.
“We felt we wanted to give tribute to the people who died in the attack, the police officers and firefighters and other people,” Eric Flintoff said.
Then-Kent Mayor Jim White as well as representatives from the Kent Fire Department attended a ceremony on Nov. 2, 2001 at the company’s offices and warehouse to see the plaque mounted on a flag pole. A singer sang “God Bless America” as part of the dedication.
“It was a nice ceremony,” Flintoff said.
The plaque includes a photo image of the twin towers from a picture taken by Flintoff’s parents during a trip to New York in 2000.
Before making plans to replace the plaque, Flintoff hopes to get the original one back.
“We’re waiting to see if the police turn up any leads,” Flintoff said. “If they don’t, we plan to replace it.”
The thief had to saw through stainless steel bolts to remove the plaque, which is about a foot wide and 9 inches tall.
“They put some effort into it,” Flintoff said.
Frazier said the thief probably already sold the plaque for its copper.
“Unfortunately, it is likely that it was already taken to a copper recycling yard, which is typical in copper thefts,” Frazier said. “The investigating officer did make checks at local recycling yards none of which reported that they had received or seen the plaque.”
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