It wasn’t exactly an armed robbery, but more of an armed robbery.

The metre-long arm of one of Hazel and Rod Braithwaite’s skeletons – which they call ‘Groundbreaker’ because it juts out from their Lincoln Road lawn – was stolen on Saturday.

It’s disheartening, said longtime Oak Bay councilor Hazel Braithwaite, who said she and her husband spend a lot of time and effort putting on an elaborate Halloween display each year.

She said Groundbreaker was heavily staked and removing the arm would have required a lot of effort.

They’ve never had a problem before, except for one failed attempt at light theft, she said.

“It’s the first time and it’s pretty shocking,” Braithwaite said. “Normally people are very respectful.”

Still, the Braithwaites have no plans to stop installing the exhibit, which they started because their daughter’s birthday is close to Halloween, she said.

Over the years, it has become extremely popular, she said. “As soon as we start putting it up, which is around the beginning of October, we get a crowd of people,” she said. “We probably get hundreds of people a day.

“I will always continue to do this because I will not let an incident like this stop us.”

West Shore RCMP and Victoria Police are planning to increase their patrols this Halloween.

Last weekend, the RCMP had “a lot of officers on the road because of all the Halloween parties that were going on,” said Cpl. Nancy Saggar.

On Oct. 30 as well as Halloween night, police will focus on patrolling neighborhoods and areas with high foot traffic, Saggar said.

She said it helps that Halloween doesn’t fall on a Friday or Saturday, when the holidays often peak.

Victoria Police said they would also be patrolling neighborhoods across the region on Halloween night.

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