Second Theft Forces Festival of Northern Lights to Remove Donation Box at Harrison Park
After a second theft of its donation box at Harrison Park, the Festival of Northern Lights will not replace it. Surveillance footage has been handed to police.
A second brazen theft at Harrison Park has pushed the Festival of Northern Lights to remove its physical donation box entirely. The incident occurred around 1:37 a.m. on December 15, when an individual used tools to forcibly remove the organization’s donation mailbox from its location in the park.
The theft was captured on surveillance video, and the Festival of Northern Lights shared still images from the footage publicly on social media. The non-profit says the footage has also been submitted to Owen Sound Police Services as part of a formal report.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article said the organization would no longer accept in-person donations. This has been updated to reflect a correction, as volunteers will still accept in-person donations at the kiosk when they are present.
Owen Sound Police have yet to release a public statement, and no description of the suspect has been provided. It remains unclear whether the police are pursuing any leads or if arrests have been made in connection to this incident or a previous theft of the same donation box.
The Festival did not indicate when the first theft occurred, and police have not confirmed whether they believe the two incidents are connected.
In the wake of the theft, the not-for-profit organization announced it will discontinue the use of physical donation boxes altogether.
“As this is the second theft of our donation box, we will no longer be using a physical donation box,” the group said in its post, instead encouraging supporters to send e-transfers to info@fonl.ca.
While the Festival thanked the community for its ongoing support, the loss of a key donation point is likely to be a setback. The annual light display relies heavily on community donations and sponsorships to fund the building and upkeep of its installations.
Removing the on-site donation box means visitors will now need to make a conscious effort to donate online or while volunteers are present at the booth — a shift that could reduce the number of casual, in-person contributions.
The Festival of Northern Lights has struggled with vandalism in recent years, as well.
Last November, the organization released a statement stating that “Due to the large amount of vandalism in the week before and the first week of the lights going on, not all displays are working properly and some are not on at all.”
Prior to the Opening Celebration on November 16, 2024, a control box was broken into and several displays were damaged on 1st Avenue West. Days later, power boxes and displays in Harrison Park were vandalized and, in some cases, rendered unusable.
“Saturday, our volunteers spent the entire day fixing these issues, as well as replacing sponsor signs that had been knocked over, kicked and dirtied. They also removed broken glass from smashed spotlights and removed used needles and garbage from various displays along the downtown riverbank,” organizers said.
Anyone with information about the recent thefts is encouraged to contact Owen Sound Police Services or send a direct message to the Festival of Northern Lights via social media.
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