A 25-year-old man from Macklin has been charged in connection to the Unity RCMP investigation of numerous reports of hay bales being set on fire in the Unity/Macklin area.

On July 31st, officers responded to a hay bale fire near Macklin and Evesham, one of several that occurred between July 28th and August 25. Investigators analyzed evidence, including surveillance video. Twenty-five-year-old Logan Seiben has been arrested and charged with arson causing mischief, arson with intend to defraud and theft under $5,000. He is scheduled to appear in Unity Provincial Court on November 18th.

Corporal Christopher Neufeld of the Unity RCMP says in the last month they responded to over 15 reports of deliberately set hay bale and grass fires. “These fires resulted in property loss and greatly impacted our local farmers.” The Macklin Fire Departments assisted with this ongoing investigation.

To help prevent being a victim of these types of property crimes, the RCMP advise farmers and land owners to transport hay bales to locations where they can be monitored, if possible, and report any suspicious people or activities to police as soon as possible.