text: Storage, looting, and vandalism In April 1942, the Office of the Custodian allowed Japanese Canadians to document the value of their property and possessions using registration forms prior to their displacement. However, insufficient warnings of displacement (sometimes as little 24 hours in advance) gave Japanese Canadians little chance to safely store their personal items. Some buried or hid belongings to protect them. Vacated Japanese Canadian communities were commonly vandalized and looted. An official from the town of Steveston reported that "[a]lmost every building formerly owned by Japanese…has been entered at one time or another." In Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, officials described that "it appears to be just the love of destruction which has made the thieves go through the buildings…" The Marpole-Richmond Review reported that, despite attempts to remove valuable items from the Steveston Buddhist Temple, looting had resulted in "numbers of cans in which have been deposited the white ashes of cremated former citizens of Steveston, have had their seals broken and their contents scattered over the floor…"
  As a result, officials sought to warehouse many of the belongings of Japanese Canadians. However, poor conditions in these facilities and ongoing looting led to the eventual loss of untold amounts of movable property. The Office of the Custodian also struggled with a significant administrative task: multiple people were appointed to oversee and pinpoint how much property each Japanese Canadian had, the condition it was in, the value it held,  as well as to establish title, maintain insurance claims, pay miscellaneous expenses and translate and type all communication with Japanese Canadian property owners. Before the Office of the Custodian could come up with a system for organizing and maintaining the property, creditors, Japanese Canadians, other state officials, and members of the general public were all inquiring about property and pressuring the Custodian for answers.
  Role of Glenn Willoughby McPherson