By Eleanor Wilson
A local op shop is appealing to the public after an unlikely donation last week.
Berwick Opportunity shop president Margaret Ruse said the shop received a small black and silver ceramic bird in a black velvet box two to three weeks ago.
Initially thinking the bird was a knick knack, she took the item home to show her husband, who googled the item only to discover it was an urn, which could possibly contain ashes.
“It’s only very small so we thought maybe someone died and the ashes were split up between family members or something,” Mrs Ruse said of the peculiar donation.
“We thought maybe it’s come in accidentally, either from someone who has been cleaning out a house and forgotten about it, or perhaps a family member who didn’t know what it is.
“It’s got nothing on it to suggest it is an urn,” she said.
The op shop has since put a call out on Facebook to try to track down the urn’s rightful owner.
“We hope to be able to find the person who has donated this by mistake, as it probably contains the ashes of a loved one,” the post read.
“We’ve had some strange things in the shop before, but nothing quite like this…we just don’t know what to do with it,” Mrs Ruse said.
“I’m just hoping someone will see the post and contact the shop, we’ve put a sign up in the shop about it as well.”
Mrs Ruse said the opening to the urn is sealed with a sticker and she does not intend to open the urn to check its contents.
She said nobody has come forward to claim the urn as of yet, and intends to keep it at the shop for one more week before passing it on to a local funeral director’s office who may be able to better assist.
The urn is approximately 5cm in height and about 8cm in length.
