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THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
A popular display of teddy bears that grew over the years along Highway 5 has met a fiery end.

Before being burned by vandals, there were roughly 100 or more teddy bears and other stuffed toys displayed along Highway 5, about 175 km northwest of Fort Smith. - NNSL file photo

Based on the scene, about 175 km northwest of Fort Smith, it appears someone took the teddy bears and other assorted stuffed toys – roughly 100 in all – piled them behind the chairs and benches on which they were sitting and set fire to them, along with some of the chairs.

According to the Department of Transportation, the attack on the teddy bears occurred sometime on the weekend of Sept. 22 and 23.

A half-dozen teddy bears, about 50 metres from the main display, appear to be the only ones to have escaped the destruction.

The number of teddy bears had been slowly and steadily increasing over the last five years since the first one appeared there – a white, one-eyed teddy bear sitting on a chair and waving to cars heading to and from Fort Smith. The stuffed toys were neatly lined up on a bank just off the highway, near the turnoff to the Sandy Lake cottage area.

Many Fort Smith residents added to the collection, including Helen Hudson-MacDonald, who was shocked to find out it had been destroyed.

"It's ridiculous," she said. "What pleasure does one get out of ruining something like that?"

Hudson-MacDonald described the teddy bear display as a fun and cute thing.

"People looked forward to reaching the area where they were so they could look," she noted. "It was an attraction."

Ken Hudson, president of the Fort Smith Metis Council, drove by the site on Sept. 25 and is also bothered by the destruction.

"It's kind of sick," he said. "Somebody has got a real hatred for teddy bears."

Earl Blacklock, manager of public affairs and communications with the Department of Transportation, said highway workers noted the teddy bears were burned.

"We don't know who was responsible," Blacklock said.

Highway 5 is not a heavily-travelled route and, in the late evening and the early morning hours, there is sometimes almost no traffic, which would allow time for vandals to strike.

Hudson-MacDonald never expected the display of teddy bears would be destroyed.

"As a matter of fact, I thought people would continue to add just to see how far they could go with the display," she said.

Hudson-MacDonald noted she and her husband have more stuffed toys, along with some chairs, to bring to the display and she hopes other people will help restart it, despite the recent destruction.

"It's not going to stop me from adding to what's left," she said.

It is unclear who started the display five years ago with the single teddy bear sitting on a chair.

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