URGENT MEMORANDUMTO: All Scottish Rite Valleys & Masonic Organizations
FROM: The Valley of Chicago, AASR, NMJ, USA
DATE: Monday, June 23, 2008
RE: Stolen Masonic Jewels and Other Historic Paraphernalia
On Sunday, June 22, 2008, between 2:00 am and 4:00 am, the office of the Valley of Chicago, along with several other offices located in the building that we are temporarily operating from until the development of our new headquarters is complete, was burglarized. As of this morning, upon discovery of the burglary, the proper law enforcement agencies have been notified.
During the burglary, our secured vault was compromised. As a result, many of the Valley’s precious metals and historic jewels were taken. Among those items removed from the vault include, but are not limited to:
Past Presiding Officer Jewels of the Lodge of Perfection; Council Princes of Jerusalem; Rose Croix; and Consistory; each inscribed “Property of AASR – Valley of Chicago” and properly numbered;
33º Member Jewels;
Diamond Membership Pins;
Dudley and Elgin Masonic Watches;
Lapel Pins, Oriental Consistory;
Past Presiding Officer Jewels from various Grand York Rite Bodies;
Past Master Jewels from various Masonic Lodges; and
Other Masonic Jewelry and Historic Metals.
Should you happen to come across any suspicious items, on Ebay or other auction sites for example, please contact Gregory R. Klemm, MSA, 33º, at (800) 774-3467, ext. 302, or at gregoryklemm@aol.com.
As a result of this burglary, a great deal of Masonic history has been compromised. Your assistance in helping us to recover that history is greatly appreciated.
Wow, that is the dumbest crime I have ever heard. Can you imagine the crooks at the pawn shop; "Hi, I have a 33 degree member jewel. Yeah, I am in Scotch Brite, I mean Scottish Rite." Pawn Shops will have to notice.
ReplyDeleteYou say that, but the jewels stolen from the Grand Lodge of California last year have never been recovered.
ReplyDeleteI expect that if the mass of metal is large enough, the jewels might be melted down and sold as scrap metal. Here in the UK we have had a rash of thefts of lead from church roofs for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteOnce commodity prices come down, these kinds of thefts will go down.
Chris Hansen, Goliath Lodge #5595 UGLE
Do we know what kind of metal the jewels were? I'm not a cop, but it might help in the investigation to know the metal type and use that information to check different scrappers in the Chicago area. I am praying for the safe return of your accouterments and regalia, my brothers in IL.
ReplyDeleteNick
Stealing Masonic objects is more common than it seem's.
ReplyDeleteMy lodge Banner disapeared ( i prefer to say it like this) from the Grand Lodge Hall following an international masonic meeting.
This was a year ago, and it was never found again.
The sadest thing is that who ever took it was a mason ( was he ? ).
José Ruah
We had our own organ pipes cut out for scrap metal by our own members before we got controll of the building.
ReplyDeleteMasons destroying their own property for a few sheckles!
Can't even trust our own!
When masons get to act with impunity they do strange things.
Good luck on the recovery.
I look forward to a jewelless masonry. No material little things to get attached to.
As a named defendant in the Halcyon case, shouldn't you pipe down with your public statements? Or do you really still believe you're anonymous?
ReplyDelete"Got controll" of Halcyon's building.
ReplyDeleteInteresting phrase.
Anyone claiming to be a Mason who uses a Che icon is truly a conflicted person.
ReplyDelete