Historic Gates Stolen from Battle Acre Monument Park In North Point

NORTH POINT Md. (WJZ) -- Baltimore County Police say someone stole two gates at the entrance of Dundalk's historic Battle Acre Monument Park. The park preserves a portion of the ground upon which the Battle of North Point was fought 200 years ago.

Rick Ritter has the details on the bizarre crime.

Both of the gates have been intact for more than 100 years. The Dundalk community describes it as a low crime, and they just want their pieces of history back.

Disturbing and despicable.

"It's very sad, why anyone would do this to the community," said John long, founder and president of Clean Bread and Cheese Creak Peak.

The Dundalk community is trying to come to grips with a crime they say can't get any lower.

"It's a shame. You can't even leave something in your own backyard in Dundalk," said Dave Patro, president of North Point Civic Association.

Two historic gates at Battle Acre Monument Park were stolen.

"I'll tell ya, I'm really irritated," said Bob Herzberg, volunteer.

Police say it happened between June 25 and June 30.

This after the gates were removed and put off to the side for renovations.

"The one here and the one over there are what's missing," Herzberg said.

The park opened in 1914 and preserves a portion of the ground on which the Battle of North Point was fought.

Long says the park is often visited but there has never been any problems until now.

"It really shows that somebody values money as opposed to community spirit," Long said.

Volunteers say both gates stood on either side of the park for more than 100 years and that each ones weighs about 250 pounds, making it hard to believe that it was a one-man job.

"This could not have been a one-person job," said Cpl. John Wachter, Baltimore County Police.

Wachter says police are working with local scrap yards to track down the thieves.

"Our scrap metals team is handling the investigation," Wachter said.

Volunteers believe the gates were scraped since the gates were worth thousands of dollars.

An estimated "$5,000-6,000 apiece, just from a historical value," Long said.

But if they happen to show back up - no questions will be asked.

"If they reappeared in the middle of the night, I think we'd be doing backflips for joy," Long said.

"You want to take pride in your community and things like this happen," Herzberg said.

Baltimore County Police say if caught, the suspects will be charged with grand theft.

They're urging anyone with any information about the incident to call police immediately at 410-307-2020.

The entire park is being revamped for the War of 1812 bicentennial in September, the 200th year since the Battle of North Point occurred.

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