Rugby pitch riding mower ripped off

Someone has made off with a nearly-new riding lawn mower belonging to a rugby union.

The mower was taken from a storage shed at a rugby pitch just off English Crescent Tuesday night. It belonged to the North Saskatchewan Rugby Union.

The Kubota 48-inch mower was a donation from Young’s Equipment as a sponsor of the national rugby tournament Saskatoon hosted in July. Young’s covered part of the cost and the rugby union covered the rest.

Tyler Eaglesham, coach and founder of union member Springboks Rugby, said the whole union worked hard fundraising for the mower.

“We did quite a bit of work as a community to raise funds to get assets for our union that we desperately need, like the lawn mower.”

While the rugby pitch members play on is leased by the city, the users are tasked with maintaining the field. The new Kubota was a big part of that, and had just over 200 hours on it.

“This is a huge setback for us,” Eaglesham said.

Saskatoon police are investigating.