TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A Tampa rowing club is left high and dry after thieves took off with one of its docks.
The Stewards Foundation says its dock on the Palm River was likely stolen last Friday. A police report was filed the next day.
“It was a really really big hit,” said high school rower Tommy Thiel, before hitting the water for practice Monday.
The Stewards Foundation is a non-profit that prides itself on making rowing a sport accessible to everyone. But now the money that would normally go to its program for inner-city kids will likely be spent replacing that dock.
Foundation President Tom Feaster calls the theft a major blow, monetarily and for morale.
“That’s probably what bothers me most about this,” he said. “Your emotions go from anger to frustration.”
Feaster says replacing the dock, which was donated years ago, could cost upwards of $30,000.
Tampa police are investigating but Feaster compared recovering the dock to finding a needle in a haystack. Some of his rowers, however, are keeping their hopes afloat.
“Please return it,” Thiel said. “We’re doing this to better the community and it’s just a really big hit. It’s really depressing for the team.”
Anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the Palm River area in the last few days is asked to contact Tampa PD or the Stewards Foundation.
