Man suspected of stealing 3 poppy donation boxes, Burnaby RCMP say

Burnaby RCMP released surveillance video of a suspect taking one of the donation boxes. (Burnaby RCMP)

Vancouver — Mounties in Burnaby say three poppy donation boxes have been stolen from businesses in the city's northeast, and they suspect the same man is responsible for each incident.

Burnaby RCMP posted photos of the suspect on Twitter Sunday afternoon, saying three separate businesses near the intersection of Kensington Avenue and Hastings Street had reported their donation boxes stolen in recent days.

The man in the photos is wearing a red toque, a dark-coloured jacket and a black face mask, which is pulled down below his nose and mouth for part of the incident.

In the surveillance video, he can be seen walking over to the donation box and looking around, before pulling a tool out of his pocket, which he uses to cut the string or wire that was tethering the box to the counter on which it sat.

He looks around some more, and apparently walks away from the box for some amount of time. After a cut in the video, he can be seen wearing his mask properly as he places the box into a green tote bag and begins to leave.

Police are asking anyone who recognizes the man to call them and quote file number 21-39894. The non-emergency number for Burnaby RCMP is 604-646-9999.