Students at a local elementary school can no longer see their clay creations rendered to their final form, due to the recent theft of an electric kiln.
The kiln, used to fire and harden clay, was stolen from its outdoor fenced enclosure on the north side of the Abbotsford School of Integrated Arts' North Poplar campus in mid-September.
The fence was discovered cut, with the kiln, valued at $2,000 and believed to weigh several hundred pounds, missing.
Shannon Thiesen, who teaches visual arts to Grade 4 and 5 students at ASIA North Poplar, heard from a teacher on Sunday, Sept. 18 that the kiln was missing.
The school reported the theft to Abbotsford Police, who say they still have an investigator assigned to the case.
"The kiln was originally donated to our school 10 years ago and is quite old; therefore, I can't imagine it has a large monetary value," said Thiesen. "That being said, it breaks my heart that someone would steal this from our kids."
The school has since received a smaller donated kiln but has yet to find somewhere more secure to install it.