400 pieces of dismantled wooden fence the target of would-be thieves in Ontario town

Two people are facing theft and other charges after police north of the Greater Toronto Area found hundreds of pieces of a wooden fence that had been taken apart for the alleged purpose of reselling it.

Ontario Provincial Police say their investigation began on Nov. 18 when officers were called to a rural farm property on 30th Sideroad in the small town of Mono, just north of Orangeville, at about 9 a.m. for a reported break-and-enter.

Police arrived at the scene to find a dismantled cedar rail fence, with some 400 of the cedar rails piled up on the property along with a weed trimmer that had earlier been reported missing.

“It appeared that the suspects had stacked the cedar rails, likely intending to return later,” police said in a news release on Tuesday.

Last Thursday night, police returned to the scene after receiving a report of a suspicious vehicle on the property.

Upon their arrival, at around 9:30 p.m., officers found that the gate had been opened and the lock was missing.

As the officers entered the property, they spotted a vehicle trying to leave and they pulled it over.

Two people were arrested a short time later.

A 39-year-old man from Shelburne and a 47-year-old woman from nearby Melancthon Township are each charged with:

• theft over $5,000
• mischief under $5,000
• trespassing at night
• trafficking in property obtained by crime
• possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000

The male accused is also charged with fail to comply with a probation order, police said.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact Dufferin OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

(Cover photo: Ontario Provincial Police)