The owner of a flower shop in Montreal West says a donation bucket intended for veterans has been stolen.
Alex Yoo of Westminster Florist has been collecting money in recent weeks with a bucket outside his shop.
He noticed that the bucket used to collect the funds was missing when he closed up shop Sunday evening.
Going through surveillance video, he spotted two people talking outside the gated area where the bucket was, then one picks up the bucket and puts it in a bag.
About $30 to $50 was stolen – not much, but taking something meant for veterans of the Canadians Armed Forces upset the florist.
“I went outside to collect the bucket, and the bucket is gone. So I'm like, ‘where did it go?’ So I'm looking around, looking around. It's gone. Somebody took it. So I was very distraught and disappointed, heartbroken, so sad,” he said.
He is hoping someone can identify the culprit.
Heartwarming response
Though it has only been 24 hours since the incident, Yoo said he is pleasantly surprised at the response from people who heard about the theft at his store and online.
The florist reported the incident to police, and he's hopeful the thieves will be caught.
In the meantime, on Monday morning several people have come into the store and donated money in envelopes, saying they want it to go to the veterans. About $110 was raised, and Yoo plans to donate it to the Royal Canadian Legion's poppy fund.
His message out of this is that there are still some good people out there.
“It's unfortunate that two people brought this negativity, you know, when there's so much negativity that's happening in this world now. So I just wanted people to realize that there's still a lot of good people,” he said.
The bucket will remain out in front of Yoo's florist shop for the next few days.
