By KATH GANNAWAY
A BIRTHDAY surprise turned sour for Launching Place girl Tegan when the bike she got for her birthday was stolen within hours of receiving it.
Tegan’s grandmother gave her the brand new white and purple bike on her birthday, Monday 22 September, and later in the day they tested it out with a ride on the nearby Warburton Rail Trail.
Tegan’s mother Karen has requested that their surname be withheld.
She said they ventured off the track for a short walk down to the Yarra River leaving the bike behind bushes in an area away from the main cycling track.
Karen said they had been gone for only a short while but when they returned were shocked to find the beautiful new bike had been taken and an old one left in its place.
“They were only there for 15 minutes and they were talking and chatting so it was quite obvious someone was around,” she said.
Tegan had her photo taken on Monday evening hoping that a quick alert on the Mail Facebook page would make an impression on the person who took the bike, or, if it was a young person, that it would alert their family and the bike would be returned.
“I have a bike activity coming up at school next term on the Warburton bike track and was really looking forward to doing that on my new bike,” she said, obviously upset and disillusioned that someone would do such a mean thing.
Despite a huge response on Mail Facebook, with over 143 people sharing the post and over 30 people commenting and offering their support to Tegan and condemnation for the bike thief, the bike has not been returned.
Karen said it was a hard lesson learned.
“It’s just one of those things and a lesson learned for Tegan who will now just have to wait a while until we can get another bike,” Karen said.
She said the response from people offering support, including the offer of another bike, had been a pleasant surprise for the family.
“It’s nice to see, after such a negative experience, that there are nice people out there as well,” she said.
The ‘replacement’ bike has been handed in to Yarra Junction police.
If anyone knows the owner of the blue bike with the torn seat and the distinctive drink bottle, and knows the owner, they should contact Yarra Junction police on 5957 1104.
