Sydney Lia, a Canadian studying at Queen’s University of Charlotte N.C. on a golf scholarship, said her $5,000 golf clubs were stolen while in the care of Air Canada.

Lia says she was flying home to her parents, when she was told her clubs were too heavy to be taken on her flight to Timmins, Ont., and given assurances that they would be placed on the next flight.

But she says that never happened.

“We had been in contact with the airline the next day to see what was going on and they couldn’t give us any answers,” Lia told CTV News Channel.

More than a fortnight later, Lia’s father found an ad for the custom golf clubs on Kijiji, where they were on offer for $1,000.

He alerted the police, who arranged a sting in which a man was arrested and is facing charges.

And that means the clubs are being held as evidence.

“I had to buy new golf clubs,” Lia said on Thursday, adding: “I’ve lost a month of training and I had to miss my first tournament of the season.”