$3,000 in baseball gear stolen from New Westminster field: police

Baseball bats are seen in this undated stock image. (Shutterstock)

Police are looking for a large, steel storage box containing $3,000 worth of baseball gear they say was stolen from a New Westminster field earlier this year.

The box, which is green and about four feet long, two feet deep and more than two feet high, was stolen from Grimston Park, police said in a news release Monday. The New West Little League used it to store baseball gear including bats and bases, some of which are marked NWBA.

"These thieves are hurting our community by targeting local sports," Sgt. Andrew Leaver said in the news release. "Whatever the reason behind someone wanting to do this, they need to realize they are depriving our youth, our athletes, and our community as a whole with these thefts."

It's the second time this year New Westminster police have asked for the public's help to find stolen sports equipment. In April, the police department said four large steel boxes full of youth soccer teams' gear were stolen from Glenbrook Middle School and Hume Park. Those thefts happened between March 19 and March 27, police said. 

Those boxes are a similar size as the one stolen from Grimston Park, but were brown and had the soccer club's logo on them.

In their latest appeal for information, police couldn't pinpoint when the baseball gear was taken, only saying it was stolen "between January and April." Residents who live near Grimston Park are asked to check their surveillance video for thefts and report any information to local police.