MOUNT FOREST – Leanne Clark felt devastated when she found out her store, Art Arrows, was broken into.
“It’s every business owner’s worst nightmare,” she told the Advertiser.
At about 2am on Jan. 16, someone smashed in the front door window of her crystal store on Main Street South in Mount Forest, and filled a backpack with jewelry, cash and a distinguishable 8kg amethyst stone.
The OPP issued a brief press release on Jan. 24 after the Advertiser inquired about the break-in. They did not identify the business and said the stone and “a quantity of” cash and jewelry was stolen.
Clarke said the stolen items and cash have a total value of $2,700, and the stone is one-of-a-kind.
She hand selects every crystal sold in the shop, Clarke said, and she’s confident she could recognize the missing amethyst if she saw it for sale. Lots of people have sent her online links hoping to find the stolen stone, she noted.
The break-in
Though the break-in took place overnight, Clarke was not aware of it until 3pm the following afternoon, when a friend sent a photo of the smashed window.
There were 80 notifications on the store’s security cameras, but most were set off by snowplows passing by, Clarke said, so she did not go through them one by one.
When she found out about the break-in, Clarke said it felt like a heartbreaking betrayal of trust, and she’s still trying to overcome that feeling.
Community support
The community’s response is helping to repair that harm.
Clarke said local residents, who have become like family to her, have done “everything anybody could ask for and more.
“Community members have been coming in [to the store] and giving condolences,” talking with her and hugging her, Clarke said, because processing the break-in is a “form of grieving.”
Though she didn’t lose someone, she did lose something, she explained, and that goes beyond the items stolen.
“I lost a sense of security and safety.”
She said many people offered financial donations although Clarke “didn’t even ask – they just heard what happened and reached out.”
Clarke felt “really surprised” by how people jumped in to help without hesitation, and said the support has amplified her appreciation for the strength of Mount Forest’s small community.
“It’s been neat to see how many people I’ve connected with and made a space they feel safe in,” Clarke said.
“To see it all at once was really eye-opening for me.”
Financial donations have surpassed the total value of the stolen items and cash, Clarke said, something she wants people to be aware of as they continue to contribute.
The community support enabled Clarke to replace the front door and update the security
system within a week.
The store
Clarke opened Art Arrows in April 2022, and said the store is her passion, her baby, and “the love of my life.”
It’s a crystal store and healing space that sells “tools for mindful living and intentional living,” Clarke said.
Clarke is a certified crystal healer with a background in teaching, and she said education is a big aspect of the store.
The stones have information cards that explain their properties, including both geological and metaphysical, she said. There’s a lot to look at, and “people come in for five minutes and then leave an hour and a half later,” Clarke said with a chuckle.
She said the store is a “safe space” where people often visit after a tough day at work, settling down on the comfortable chair to tell Clarke about their day.
Providing information
The OPP asks anyone with information to call investigators 1-800-310-1122, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477, or submit a tip at csgw.tips. “You may be eligible for a reward from Crime Stoppers of up to $2,000,” police state.
Five short clips from the Art Arrows surveillance cameras during the break-in are posted on Facebook at facebook.com/artarrows.
