Thieves steal county plaque

It also listed a quote from Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

In 1981, the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh relocated to a ranch outside Antelope with his followers, who would go on to commit numerous crimes in an effort to gain control of county political operations. Among other crimes, they poisoned public officials and did a mass poisoning in The Dalles –salad bars were tainted with salmonella in the first bioterrorism attack in the U.S. — to keep voters from the polls.

The plaque was reported stolen last Wednesday by Fred Davis, facilities operations manager for Wasco County.

He said he didn’t know when it had been taken. The plaque’s absence was first spotted by an employee of the clerk’s office who was coming back to the courthouse from a trip downtown, he said.

The plaque is made of bronze, Davis said. It measured roughly 18 inches by 24 inches and he estimated it weighed around 10-12 pounds.

He imagined it was headed for the black market, and was taken by druggies looking to recycle it for money. He speculated that the plaque could be altered so it would not be detectable what its origins were.

He said it likely was not hard to remove the plaque since there were not many marks on the stone base where it was displayed. “We live in a culture that operates best in a trust environment and unfortunately, that’s failed.”

“It’s interesting with a brass or bronze piece that this is so brazen,” he said. “That’s where the word [brazen] came from: shiny and obvious.”

He did not know if the plaque would be replaced, saying officials had not discussed it yet.

Wasco County Commission Chair Rod Runyon said, “Too bad that whoever did that really doesn’t have enough to keep themselves occupied, that he did something to deface county property that’s really important.

“That’s too bad, I feel sorry for the person, I hope they’re happy.”

Runyon added, “We’ll get it fixed.”

Davis said that side of the courthouse is illuminated, and the statue itself is also illuminated.

Keith Mobley, an attorney who represented the city of Antelope in the early days of Rajneesh era, said, “That is a reprehensible act. There will be strong community support in Wasco County to replace the plaque.”