STONEHAM – Stoneham authorities say a “significant quantity” of sports equipment was stolen during an alumni event Tuesday night.
The stolen items include football helmets worth $400 each, field hockey and football jerseys and practice shorts. In total, 10 fall sports teams had equipment taken.
“We estimate that the value of all of that is missing is between $7,000 and $8,000,” Stoneham School Superintendent David Ljungberg said. “This affects 10 of our sports teams that will be playing in the fall, and we need to have our equipment back.”
Theft happened at alumni event
Police say the theft occurred during an “Alumni Walkthrough” event at old Stoneham High School, which was closed earlier this month to make way for a new high school.
“This was a fun last hurrah of our school building and a way for folks to say goodbye,” said Ljungberg.
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Fewer than 200 people RSVP’d, but about twice that showed up. Somehow, a group helped themselves to much needed athletic gear.
Ljungberg said the athletic training room was locked from the main hallway, and these items were boxed and labeled. But there was an unlocked rear door, which people apparently accessed through a roundabout route of classrooms.
“Desperately asking for your help”
Earlier in the day, the Stoneham Athletics Department posted that it was “desperately asking for your help” to get the equipment back and said sports seasons could be in jeopardy.
“Our current athletes need this stuff and can’t compete without it. I am begging for anyone who took something to please return it asap,” the account posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “We can not afford to get new uniforms. This could destroy our upcoming seasons.”
Ljungberg said the school system is working closely with police to get the stolen equipment back to teams in time for the fall season. Anyone with information is asked to contact Stoneham police at 781-438-1215.
“We cannot have something like this happen again,” Ljungberg said.