Two rural homes that were formerly used as grow-ops were vandalized last Wednesday, and police suspect the incidents are related.
The properties were previously owned by the same individual.
“We are thinking it could have been possibly a grow rip with people who don’t have up to date information,” said Sergeant Barry Kennedy, Princeton RCMP detachment commander.
Emily Shepperd of Princeton, and her family, purchased one of the cabins, on Princeton Summerland Road, last October to use as a vacation retreat.
“All the windows and the doors have to be replaced,” she said. “They smashed everything up, all the mirrors in the bathroom, the toilet got smashed and the bathtub and the shower enclosure, all that got smashed. …even the stove, microwave and coffee maker.”
Shepperd couldn’t place a dollar value on the damage, and added the home was not yet insured due to difficulties obtaining a policy because of the property’s history.
She said it could have been much more serious if she or her husband had been home.
“My husband was there the morning previous and he just happened to go on the afternoon the next day. It’s a good thing no one was there at the time. What are these people thinking? What do they have in their minds? What would they have done to us?”
The second property vandalized is on Old Merritt Road, where police were called to attend Wednesday morning. While vandals broke into the home damage is only about $200, according to Kennedy.
“When they realized there was nobody living there they left,” he said.