Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue plaques stolen in Hobart recovered after anonymous tip to police

An anonymous tipster has alerted Tasmania Police to the location of 19 memorial plaques stolen from a war memorial at Queens Domain last week. HOW THEY WERE FOUND>>>

Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds, Friends of Soldiers' Memorial Avenue president John Wadsley and Clarence division Inspector Andrew Keane with the recovered stolen bronze plaques. Picture: Supplied

The 19 bronze plaques brazenly stolen from Hobart’s Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue last week have been recovered after police received an anonymous tip leading them to a dumped hessian bag filled with the missing items.

The plaques were reported missing by the Hobart City Council last Wednesday.

Tasmania Police launched an investigation into the heartless theft from the memorial at Queens Domain, which is dedicated to the memory of soldiers who died during the First World War.

A significant number of plaques have been recovered after they were stolen from the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue on the Queens Domain. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Clarence division Inspector Andrew Keane said an anonymous member of the public had come to the Bellerive Police Station on Sunday to inform officers that he believed he’d found the stolen plaques.

“They saw the story on the news. And he was going for a walk near the library on the Eastern Shore, and just behind [the Registry of] Births, Deaths and Marriages [at Rosny], he found a hessian bag containing all 19 plaques yesterday,” Inspector Keane said.

“And we are … very pleased to have recovered them for the owners.”

Inspector Keane said police were “leaving all the options open” in relation to their investigation.

Friends of Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue president John Wadsley said it would cost at least $12,000 to recast the recovered plaques.

John Wadsley, president Friends of Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue at the site of one of the stolen plaques. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“I think the people who did this realise that [the plaques are] basically worthless as they are, but they represent so much more to the families,” he said.

Mr Wadsley said the condition of each of the plaques varied.

“Some of them look okay, and some of them will take a lot more effort [to restore],” he said.

Originally published as Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue plaques stolen in Hobart recovered after anonymous tip to police