Vancouver Island’s alleged largest Canadian flag stolen from pole

This Canadian flag outside of a Nanaimo car dealership is 30 feet by 15 feet, and was been stolen off its pole on Sept. 24. (Screenshot of Google Maps)

Posted September 27, 2023 5:44 pm.

Vancouver Island’s alleged largest Canadian flag has been cut loose and stolen from a car dealership in Nanaimo.

Ross Barnard, general sales manager of Laird Wheaton dealership in Nanaimo, says the flag is 30 feet by 15 feet — the length of about two and a half pickup trucks — and has been flying beside the Island Highway for more than 40 years.

On Monday morning, Barnard said he and his colleagues showed up for work as usual, and it wasn’t until the wind picked up and he looked out the window, that he realized the flag was missing.

“This flag is here all the time so we don’t pay too much attention to it all the time, it’s just in the back of our heads,” he said.

When he noticed its absence, he says he called the person who normally puts it up and down to see if he had removed it for safekeeping during the storm that hit Vancouver Island on Monday and Tuesday.

After calling the flag manager and the lot manager, Barnard says he “realized it was stolen and it hadn’t flown away because all the shrapnel from the lines was at the bottom of the pole.”

The theft appears to have been well thought out, Barnard adds.

He explains the flag’s stainless steel rings, used to attach the flag to its hoisting rope, were ground down using a power tool, and some sort of ground ladder was likely used to reach the flag, flying 20 feet in the air.

Unfortunately, Barnard says the dealership’s surveillance cameras weren’t well-positioned to capture the thieves in action, but they’re asking their neighbours to see if anyone else’s footage may have captured the caper.

Above all, Barnard says he’s confused by the fact that the thieves chose to steal their flag.

“We’re concerned about vehicles being stolen or catalytic converters from our trucks being stolen, but we’ve never been concerned a flag would be stolen, especially that high up on the pole,” he said.

The flag will cost $1,500 to replace, but Barnard says the invitation is open for the thieves to return it — no questions asked.

“If somebody brought me back my flag, I’d look after them in some shape or form,” he said. “Just put it at the front door of the dealership, no questions asked.”

Since the flag’s disappearance, Barnard says he’s been receiving lots of calls from locals who are wondering where the landmark they used to tell the weather has disappeared to.