12-year-old finds 'samurai sword' in bushes, Victoria police seek owner
Victoria police are looking for the owner of what they describe as a "samurai sword" found in a bush in Esquimalt this week.
A concerned parent called police after her 12-year-old child came home carrying the weapon on Monday, Sept. 19, the Victoria Police Department said in a news release Friday.
According to police, the parent reported that the child found the sword "in the bushes" near the intersection of Colville and Admirals roads while walking on the E&N trail.
The sword was found without a sheath, police said.
"Officers are hoping to locate the rightful owner of the sword and learn how it came to be in the bushes near the trail," the VicPD release reads.
Victoria police shared an image of the sword, which appears to have Japanese characters engraved on the blade.
Anyone who recognizes the sword is asked to call the VicPD report desk at (250) 995-7654, extension 1.
Strange as it may seem, this is not the first time police in B.C. have sought to reunite a Japanese-style sword with its owner.
In 2019, a member of the public walked into the Burnaby RCMP detachment and turned over a "samurai sword" she had found discarded in that city.
That sword was engraved with the message "TO TRAV, BEST FRIENDS. SAM."
At the time, police told CTV News Vancouver the blade was considered found property and would be held for 90 days. If unclaimed after that period, it would be destroyed.
On Friday, Burnaby RCMP confirmed that they never found the rightful owner in that case, and the weapon was, indeed, destroyed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.