Thieves who targeted a Marine Drive restaurant Monday morning knew exactly what they wanted from the waterfront establishment – and none of it was on the menu.
Charlie Don’t Surf owner John Carroll said the only thing nicked in the brazen crime was a collectible guitar autographed by Australian hard-rock legends Angus and Malcolm Young – of AC/DC fame – that has hung on the wall by the bar for nearly a decade.
“It’s just mind-boggling,” Carroll told Peace Arch News. “I thought of all the things in there, that would be the hardest to take.”
The culprits struck at about 6:30 a.m. April 7, somehow opening the restaurant’s door from the outside.
Carroll suspects a crowbar was used to pry the Plexiglas-encased Gibson Les Paul off the wall.
He described the brothers autographing the instrument as “a beautiful gesture.” They come to the waterfront restaurant every time the band records in Vancouver, Carroll said.
He said the guitar was one of the most popular pieces of decor in the restaurant – “the most photographed thing we had in the place.”
Carroll is hopeful the uniqueness of the autographs and the hand-drawn AC/DC logo on the guitar will help police track it down, along with those who took it.
“There’s quite a value to it,” he added.
Police are reviewing surveillance-camera footage from the restaurant as part of their investigation.
Anyone with information on the guitar or those responsible for its theft is asked to contact White Rock RCMP at 778-593-3600.