OPP seek public assistance in Elliot Lake arena break-and-enter, mischief investigation

Elliot Lake reaches fundraising goal for new area Elliot Lake has announced it has passed its fundraising goal for repairs to Centennial Arena – raising almost $570,000.

Overnight on Thursday as the community of Elliot Lake was resting to prepare for the upcoming Kraft Hockeyville celebrations – both locally and in Greater Sudbury, when vandals struck a building that has been top of mind for the northern Ontario city for more than a year.

Elliot Lake's Centennial Arena closed Elliot Lake's Centennial Arena has been closed since September 2023 because of structural problems. (File Photo/CTV News Northern Ontario)

Sometime overnight, five male suspects broke into the Centennial Arena and caused an estimated $50,000 in damage, according to reports by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP.)

“Suspects entered and deployed numerous fire extinguishers inside and vandalized kitchen/canteen,” said OPP in a social media post.

“They also damaged a center support beam by driving machinery into it.”

$4.3 million in repairs were underway at the facility which closed in September 2023 due to safety concerns.

East Algoma OPP has released video and images of the suspects involved on social media, in a public appeal for information.

Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact OPP using reference number E241293954 or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

Correction

CTV News has removed images of the suspects provided by police from this articel as the accused are minors protected under the Youth Crimianl Justice Act.