Someone is stealing memorial 'ghost bikes' in Houston

A ghost bike stands near the location where bike rider Chelsea Norman lost her life at Waugh and West Gray on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, in Houston. ( Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle ) A ghost bike stands near the location where bike rider Chelsea Norman lost her life at Waugh and West Gray on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, in Houston. ( Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: Mayra Beltran, Staff Photo: Mayra Beltran, Staff Image 1 of / 36 Caption Close Someone is stealing memorial 'ghost bikes' in Houston 1 / 36 Back to Gallery

According to the group that places them, more than a handful of memorial ghost bikes have been taken from locations across Houston. The bikes symbolize riders who have been killed riding on Houston’s streets and are placed near where fatalities occurred.

Steve Sims, of Houston Ghost Bike, said Wednesday that the bikes that have been reported missing didn’t have plaques, flowers or a ghost bike sticker attached.

“It's possible that whoever took the bike just didn't know what it is. We're making sure to add everything to the replacement bikes,” said Sims, adding that the thefts have been in what are called “higher crime areas.”

A recent KTRK-TV report tabulated the number of missing bikes at just over a dozen.

It’s not as if the person or people who’ve taken the bikes could get very far on them. They’ve been modified in such a way that they wouldn’t be very easy to ride. No essential parts are left on the bikes.

Each bike is stripped of its chain and gears, things that could get pulled off by people passing by. They are all painted with white spray paint and welded so that they cannot be ridden.

The bikes are chained to telephone poles, fences, trees and traffic poles, using sturdy chains and locks.

Houston Ghost Bike is a part of an international movement of fellow cyclists who place the white bikes where their comrades have fallen.

Last year Richard Tomlinson, of the local ghost bike group, installed more than 40 bikes across Houston. Some of those were the ones that have been stolen, Sims says.

In a post on the Houston Ghost Bike page, Sims said that some who saw the bikes thought that they were art installations.

Tomlinson was doing a yeoman’s job last year of installing bikes and he said that he was told by Mayor Annise Parker that none of the bikes in the Houston city limits would be tampered with by city workers.

“My wife and I have been adding plaques and flowers to the bikes that have already been placed in an effort to spread awareness of what the bikes signify,” Sims says. “Hopefully this will reduce the number of thefts of the ghost bikes.”

Sims believes that he and the group have about 38 bikes more to place, but added there may be more as word gets out about the project and friends and families come forward to ask that their loved ones also be memorialized.

“As more people find out about our mission, we hope to discover other victims that might have been overlooked,” Sims says.