Police solve the great doormat caper

Where do you report a stolen home-security sign?

A lot of neighbors in an exclusive ocean-view suburb in West Vancouver, British Columbia, might well have wondered that during a three-year crime spree in which hundreds of doormats, plastic lawn chairs, garbage cans, recycling boxes and other yard gear went missing. The reported theft of a $4,000 set of lawn furniture back in December led police to search the nearby home of a 64-year-old man and his 32-year-old son, said department spokesman Sgt. Bob Fontaine.

What officers found at the suspects' house -- along with "two Lexuses, a Rolls-Royce, a brand-new Mercedes, an SUV and a couple of other cars" they legitimately owned -- were a lot of things they apparently didn't.

"Hundreds of lawn chairs, about 60 blue (recycling) boxes, 20 Wet Floor signs and about 200 plastic planters' pots" were stored along with "orange cone pylons from five different cities, a dozen or so park benches, ADT alarm signs, real-estate signs, political signs, a Little League sign and these big wooden sandwich-board signs from a video-rental store," Fontaine said.