'I really want it back': Winnipeg woman pleads for return of stolen beadwork

A Winnipeg woman is pleading for the return of a beaded medallion stolen from her home last month.

Chantel Scott and her family were forced to leave their West End home at the end of February while exterminators dealt with a bedbug problem. While she was away, Scott said thieves broke into her home and took the family’s valuables including a beaded medallion she had made of Sgt. Tommy Prince – one of Canada’s most decorated Indigenous war veterans.

Scott said she was upset that her other items including beading supplies were stolen, but the loss of the Tommy Prince artwork was especially painful.

“Finding out that my Tommy Prince was gone hurt even more because that took a long time to do,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.

Scott worked for more than two years on the Tommy Prince beadwork, which required a lot of attention to detail.

She said she would love to have it back, and would even be willing to pay for its return.

“I just want them to know it’s mine and I really want it back,” she said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Scott and her daughter replace their stolen items, which include a bike, a television, and beadwork.

“For me to lose my belongings, it just doesn’t feel good,” Scott said.

-With files from CTV’s Scott Andersson