Investigation by the Burlington Police Department with the assistance of the Bailey-Howe Library and the Fletcher Free Library found that a 220+ year old document written in 1791 regarding the town of Sterling, VT was stolen from the holdings of the Fletcher Free Library and offered for sale to the Bailey-Howe Library.
Investigation found that Patrick Rooney of Colchester had taken the document by removing it from the binding of its original volume, the Burlington Proprietors Volume 1 at the Fletcher Free Library when he was given access to the historical collection. The document is valued at between $175 and $500, but has been described as “priceless” given its age and historical value as it is related to Ira Allen.
The document was recovered and returned to the Fletcher Free Library for restoration and to be rebound into the original volume. Rooney was issued a citation for Sale of Stolen Property and Petit Larceny, and was ordered to appear in Court on January 21, 2014 at 10:30 am. Both Petit Larceny and Sale of Stolen Property are punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year and fines of not more than $1,000.00 or both.
Photographs of Rooney are not available at this time and are not forthcoming. Photographs of the recovered document have been included for your reference.
