Theft of one (cheap) pedal?

[osmill]

My wife recently began bike commuting once or twice a week. She locks her bike to a rack in her employer's parking garage. The racks are in a visible location, near the elevators and the walkway to the building. One day last week, she came out after work and found that one pedal (inexpensive nylon) was gone. She checked the area, but no sign of it.

She is concerned that someone stole the pedal in order to render the bike unrideable, in the hope that it would get left overnight at which time the thief would return with more time to defeat the lock. Anyone every hear of a similar theft/vandalism? (The bike is an early 90s hybrid, with lower-end components.)

[Grant]

Having recently gone through a broken pedal episode my first thought was that that maybe a rider had a broken pedal and needed one to get home. They stole a cheap pedal on the theory that it would cause the least amount of grief to the affected party.

Your wife's theory seems much more logical.

[djasonpenney]

A friend of mine also reports an additional lock being placed on his cable-locked bike in the Bethany area.

This would have the same effect of potentially retaining the bike in a non-optimal location long enough for a thief to be able to attack it at his leisure.

[29"er]

There is Craigslist ad for someone selling one nylon pedal...

[Arem]

Whoa, that CL ad has "scammer" written all over.
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/816573813.html