Angie Izzard arrived at Guiding Minds Montessori around 6:40 a.m. Friday and found the guiding minds montessori playground theft already carried out in Headingley, Man. Someone had rammed a vehicle through the fence around the outdoor play area, and the daycare owner said the large play structure was gone.
“Then I noticed, as I was throwing things out at the dumpster, that our large play structure was gone,” Izzard said, describing what she saw when she got to the early childhood education centre. She said the structure had been bolted to the ground, making the theft a matter of dismantling and removal rather than a quick grab.
Angie Izzard on Friday morning
Izzard said she was “completely shocked” and questioned why anyone would want to steal a structure used by children. She also said, “Some of them have had tears because they love that play structure. So it breaks my heart that someone would do this to … You know, to children,” after hearing how the loss landed with families.
Her reaction also points to the practical problem now facing the centre: the outdoor play area is damaged, the structure is gone, and the daycare has to replace both the equipment and the fence.
Manitoba RCMP canvass Headingley
Paul Manaigre of Manitoba RCMP said the theft was “quite unusual” because it involved “a large item that is going to require dismantling,” something that took time and carried a risk of someone getting caught. RCMP are canvassing the area for security footage and hope to identify and release images of a suspect vehicle.
The centre did not have security cameras at the time of the incident, and Izzard said it plans to install them now. The theft has also prompted a practical response from the community: families and members of the public have started donating to help replace the play structure and fix the fence.
Guiding Minds Montessori repairs
For the daycare, the next step is not a hearing or a vote but a repair bill and a search for whoever took the structure. The centre is trying to restore a play area children already missed on Friday morning, while police look for the vehicle and any footage that can identify it.
What began as a breach in the fence ended with a large part of the outdoor space missing, and the centre now has to rebuild before the children can use it again.
