08 Aug A repugnant act of thievery

The much admired Cape Breton musician Carmen Townsend holds the cherry red, 1965 Guild Starfire guitar that was stolen, along with three others, from the trunk of her car in a break-in last night on Willow Street in Halifax.

Townsend, who performs as a soloist and also with such bands  the Tom Fun Orchestra and Motorleage, has owned the Guild since she was 19.

“It is my baby,” she writes in a Kijiji ad seeking its return. “I am crushed.”

Everyone who experiences a break-in or a burglary feels violated, but the theft of a struggling musician’s tools of the trade is a particularly hateful bit of business.

Also stolen were a  brown Takamine Acoustic cutaway with “lots of cosmetic damage,” a light brown Fender Squire Thinline Telecaster with a white pick guard and a chip in the top corner, and a brown Fender Stratocaster rented from Long and Mcquade.

The back window of Townsend’s car was smashed, but the car alarm failed to go off. Anyone with information about the crime or the guitars can call Carmen Townsend at 902-240-3757. If you know a music dealer or pawn shop that might be offered these instruments, please alert them.