RSA over the moon as sign is recovered

The missing Whangarei RSA sign has finally been recovered.

There's been some celebrating at the Whangarei RSA this week after the club's sacred Lest We Forget sign was returned after being stolen more than a month ago.

The roughly two-metre long macrocarpa sign was stolen from its place in front of the RSA overnight on February 5/6 after thieves unbolted it and disappeared.

The theft devastated RSA members, who offered a $1000 reward from their own pockets for the sign's return. When the sign was stolen it left the members distraught and wondering why somebody would steal something so treasured from a group representing those who sacrificed their lives to uphold our democracy and way of life.

The slab with the sacred words Lest We Forget has greeted visitors to the club on Rust Ave since it was bolted into place on November 11, 2001, and with the 100th anniversary of Anzac forces landing on Gallipoli in 1915 coming up they wanted it back to honour those sacrifices.

But after more than a month of the sign being missing Whangarei RSA President Chris Harold said some members had almost given up hope of it being returned and were planning for a replacement.

That was until club official Colleen Towgood received a call on Tuesday from a young woman who had seen publicity about the stolen sign in The Northern Advocate.

Mrs Towgood said two women had found the sign thrown behind a metal dump at Tangiteroria and realised it belonged to the RSA.

"She rang up and said 'I think we've got something that belongs to you'. I went up there to have a look at it and was over the moon when I saw it was our sign. And it's great to have it back," she said.

Mr Harold said the committee kept the return secret until Wednesday might when it was announced at a club meeting.

"Everybody just went crazy when we told them it had been returned," he said.

"I almost had a tear in my eye when I told them and everybody just clapped, cheered and yahooed, there was so much relief."

The sign will be fixed back in place next week with fittings that cannot be removed and other security measures, that Mr Harold did not want publicised, will be taken to prevent it being stolen again.

"We have two important days coming up and it will be fantastic to have the sign back in its place by then," Mr Harold said.

On March 28, the new memorial wall and resited cenotaph will be unveiled at Whangarei's Laurie Hall Park and, on April 25, Anzac Day commemorations will mark the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

Mr Harold said the $1000 reward would be passed on to the two young women who returned the sign.