Thieves stole thousands of dollars in copper rainspouts from the Glen Foerd estate last week, according to the executive director of the historical site.
Staff members arrived at the estate at 5001 Grant Ave. on Thursday morning to discover that a downspout was missing from the side of the mansion. Initially, the staff suspected that the spout had fallen in a gust of wind. But it was nowhere to be found. Then staff members observed that other spouts were also missing, according to Meg Sharp Walton, executive director of the city-owned estate.
Walton reported the case to local police, who placed the value of the copper at about $2,500. That figure may be the value of the metal as scrap, but the actual cost of replacing the pieces has yet to be determined, Walton said. The site director also contacted dozens of scrap metal dealers in the area to ask them to report any sightings of copper downspouts that had been painted in cream color.
The estate will have PVC spouts installed as a temporary fix. Police told Walton that they would patrol the Glen Foerd grounds more diligently from dusk to dawn. The estate has operable security cameras, but investigators have been unable to identify the thieves, Walton said. ••
