An ingenious crime that entailed scaling perilous heights to steal donations intended for a nearby climbing club has left climbers dumbfounded.
Thieves brought mountaineering equipment and used steel ladders and cables attached to the rockface to reach their quarry, at 8,000ft (2.4 kilometres) above sea level.
Climbing group ‘viaferrata’, took to Facebook to inform its community that cash from a donation box placed at a staggering height of 2,350m. Climbing groups often place such boxes in the country to help maintain the upkeep of treks.
As reported by the BBC, the route is classified as level 5, which means that the climb is extremely difficult and can only be undertaken by experienced mountaineers.
A few days ago, the donation box was found broken, and the cash (around 500 Swiss Francs) was missing. In the Facebook post, the group shared a picture of the broken box and said: “What kind of people are these? The members of the climbing group maintain the climbing route without pay or compensation.”
They even called the crime a “huge insolence – no respect”.
After the post, the climbing group has received support online with several people pledging to donate.
