'Piece of history lost' with theft of tennis club gate

Jillian Frater wants to see her 100-year-old tennis club’s gate returned.

The Lyttelton Tennis Club committee member discovered the wrought iron gate had been stolen two weeks ago.

“It’s a shame,’’ Frater said.

“It (the gate) has been there for decades and now someone’s taken it away.”

Hidden from the street, the thief would have to peer through trees and over bushes to even be able to see the gate, she said.

Frater, who has lived in Lyttelton for more than 30 years, estimates the club itself – gate and all – has been around since about 1919.

It was previously known as Te Whaka Tennis Club.

Resident Jane McBride said the thief had stolen something from everyone. 

“A very special feeling of history is now lost to everyone else because someone decided to steal away this part of our past,’’ McBride said.

Frater reported the theft to the city council on March 13. She also reported it to the police. 

Christchurch City Council community parks manager Al Hardy said the gate was the council’s responsibility.

“We are in the process of getting it replaced,’’ Hardy said.

Frater has contacted companies in Christchurch that might have been sold the gate.

She has asked them to keep an eye out for it. “Apparently they’re stolen all the time,’’ she said.