Comments on: Thieves Target Cemeteries

By: Bob K.

Bob K. — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:32:42 +0000

Perhaps we should start inbedding rfid chips in the vases.

By: Will's Mom

Will's Mom — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:29:47 +0000

This is not limited to items of monetary value. An angel statue and pinwheel were stolen from the grave of my infant son. Together they were worth less than $20. I was so disturbed and hurt when I found that they had been stolen that I won’t put anything else on the grave. People can be so cruel.

By: Larry

Larry — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:11:48 +0000

Well at least the scrap yards in one state have a heart and turned in two thieves who ripped off cemeteries in Tennessee. The scrap yards in Kentucky turned them in and two suspects were arrested. Now if other scrap yards would get a heart and turn in the thieves. Michigan has been hit bad with this, and the greedy scrap yard owners just take the stuff. The police need to set up stings on scrap yards and prosecute to the fullest. It was bad enough stealing central air conditioners, and the copper tubing running to your cabin. I release the country is getting bad recession wise but this scrapping needs to be regulated.

By: Irrelevant

Irrelevant — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:48:17 +0000

If these vases are so easy to steal and they cost hundreds of dollars, must they be made of bronze? Surely there is something which can replace bronze, but be worthless to thieves. Recycled molded plastic maybe? Bronze painted clay vases?

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:05:38 +0000

I am a District Manager for Clark Memorials in Alabama. Unfortunately, we’ve dealt with this problem for a while. The cemeteries may not like this, but you can epoxy the vases in place. You won’t be able to turn the vase upside down, but it will hopefully deter any future theft. Be sure to drill a hole in the bottom of the vase if you do this so water can drain out.

Also…..to deter the theft of the marker itself, make sure the marker is set in concrete with a granite base. The concrete will adhere to the back of the granite (and the bolts that actually hold the bronze to the granite) and make it more difficult to remove.

I don’t encourage or discourage the sale of vases, but if you live far away from the cemetery, you might want think about a picture instead of a vase…..just something to think about!

By: ting

ting — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:47:16 +0000

20 bucks says it is mexicans and other hispanics in the country illegally.

They also steal the aluminum guard rails off bridges in CA, nice !
You see, they can’t help it, theivery is an acceptable part of their life, like stomping their kids to death on the side of the road and breaking into your house drunk at night and sleeping in your infant or childs bed, which has happened several times in my area.

As long as you let them stay and dont run them out, you will live with this stuff, the blame is YOURS for not doing something about it.

Remember, we the people, YOU are the people, stop letting politicians and liberla walk all over you, it’s your country, TAKE IT BACK.

By: willy

willy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:17:02 +0000

Just Why don’t the Scrap Dealers help out in catching these Criminals. all they need to do is pretend they are going to buy this stolen copper/ Brass , Get the sellers Name/address of an ID, write down the vehicle plate number, Then Tell the Thief to get off there property, Then Call the police and Give the police the info

By: Seeker of a revolution

Seeker of a revolution — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:27:11 +0000

I Feel a revolution commin on. 10 years or less.

By: Oh, sure « Thomason Tracts

Oh, sure « Thomason Tracts — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:25:05 +0000

[...] “Bob” came via an automatically generated link from Fox News. Why am I not surprised? Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Thieves Target [...]

By: Whoever

Whoever — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:17:10 +0000

Vanessa — I only wish the treat of jail solved something, I wish it were a deterrent. It is obviously not, alas.

I agree with your sentiment about art. My great grandfather was a sculptor in bronze. He was a worker in the foundry (but not the designer of) the Winged Mercury that stood on the lampposts of 5th Ave, NYC. The whereabouts of only 4 statues are known to the public — I know where the 5th is, however. As much as those Winged Mercuries might be prized, my grandfather would have been honored to have worked on something so much more precious as works created to the memory of those beloved and now passed. Maybe he did?

I know what my copy of the Mercury means to me as the work of my great grandfather’s hand. I cannot, however, begin to imagine the feeling of loss of a monument to the memory of my loved one — artifact or not, valuable or not.

Pieter — Words cannot express my sympathy for your loss or my grief for the defacing of the grave of a brave and valiant young man to whom we are eternally in debt as Americans. May he truly rest in the peace for which he sought to fight for our country.

By: Reader Bob

Reader Bob — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:12:51 +0000

Until our judicial system becomes a deterrent instead of an inconvenience these crimes and others like it will occur. The thieves know first hand what awaits them if caught. A slap on the wrist is not working. Petty crimes abound with graffiti, copper thefts (they even stole the copper tubing off the A/C units at the elementary school), streetlights are out, anti-siphon valves from the water systems, the tops of fire hydrants and the list continues with little to nothing happening to those who are stealing these items and many more. Parents are not responsible for their children or their actions. And the recycling centers who buy these stolen goods are also the blame. When getting caught (and they will) means the thief will spend a very long time at hard labor like what is found in the Sheriff’s jail in Mariposa Arizona (tents and chain gains) for extended lengths of time, it will continue.

By: JD

JD — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:03:26 +0000

Yet still another example of the moral decay that has spread throughout our country. You can be sure that if the culprits are caught, some far left judge will ensure that they suffer little or no consequence for their sick deeds. You can also be sure that the courts will justify their actions based on their beliefs that our country is so terrible. Wake up America! Take action. Don’t just sit in the background and expect someone else to fix what is broken due to our inaction. Hold politicians and Judges ACCOUNTABLE!!!

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:56:16 +0000

My mother’s vase was stolen just days after we buried her, and I am now faced with whether to purchase a vase for my husband’s grave. I am probably NOT going to play into the hands of thieves by purchasing a bronze vase. I may order a granite one instead. There should be a hefty fine for anyone accepting these vases, scrapyards or not! Anyone that would steal from the dead or their families is just plain evil and a selfish heartless mongrel. We reap what we sow so all I can say is ‘heaven help them’ because it’ll come back on them everyone!

By: anton

anton — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:46:51 +0000

According to you protestants, once saved always saved, it does not matter what you do, so the thief is probably a protestant, going straight to Heaven…

By: mike

mike — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:36:59 +0000

Lets start selling the caught theives on the black market…A little reversal of fortune if you will. I mean, you can get a bunch of money for organs and limbs…everything but the brain should have some value..obviously the brains are faulty. Mike for Pres!!!

By: Travis Jackson

Travis Jackson — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:33:05 +0000

People have been stealing vases for years in a cemetery close to Enterprise, AL. People who do this kind of thing are sick and unfortunately are hardly ever caught. Why some crackhead would want to steal from someone who has lost a loved one is beyond me! It is just sick!

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:04:22 +0000

If monetary benefit is the reason for the criminal behavior, then the answer is simple–make the criminals pay for the destruction they have caused–through manual labor. Criminals are by nature lazy and predatory. Having them work to pay RESTITUTION is the key to eliminating such crimes, along with public disclosure and suitable punishment–no more air conditioning or relaxing at the taxpayers expense. Chaingangs are much more effective at changing behavior. Such a penalty will also deter future thievery by such losers.

By: Trish

Trish — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:37:35 +0000

I felt bad enough when I went to visit my baby son’s grave and a toy I left behind had been stolen. I can’t imagine what I would feel if I were to go back and find that his vase had been stolen as well.

I have felt bad for having moved 700 miles away from his gravesite and only being able to see him once in seven years. Now I’m scared that someone might come and steal what little I could ever give him and I wouldn’t know it for years: if ever.

I hate a thief, but a thief that steals from the dead doesn’t even deserve that emotion.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:29:18 +0000

Beth…..why do I get the feeling you are being sarcastic? That’s very rude of you. The topic is a serious one, and the issue of the vases being stolen should be treated as such. Of COURSE family members will become angry and want to beat the crap out of the thieves! To volley a remark such as yours at Pamela is uncalled for and uncouth, and definitely NOT classy. You may think you are clever but by saying such a thing you are as bad as the thieves we are discussing.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:26:15 +0000

The people that do this are the lowest of the low. We had our childs stolen. This should be a serious crime for both those that steal and the scrap dealers. They have to know where this is coming from. I say mandatory prison time for the person accepting the vases and those that own the scrap yards. They are just as guilty. My wife and I were deeply hurt over this. We already lost oour daughter.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:15:44 +0000

This act is definitely appalling. I agree that these types of acts should be punishable to the fullest extent of the law. This really shows us the times we live in, how we’ve let this once proud country get away from God. Brace yourselves because it is only going to get worse, because we’ve allowed it to. May the Lord have mercy on us.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:14:46 +0000

And some people wonder why I carry (legally).

By: Daniel Babcock

Daniel Babcock — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:57:46 +0000

Time to make fake bronze vases. Even a cast iron one should cost under $50.00 and have less scrap value. Sorry to the people vandalized.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:36:09 +0000

Two Words… Rock Salt!

By: AJ

AJ — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:35:28 +0000

Unfortunately, this is not new. I work as a funeral director in a rural Wisconsin town, and cemeteries around here have had problems with not only vases, but bronze plaques marking the graves of veterans. The plaques are forcefully stolen from the back side of headstones. Not only are the plaques taken, but there is damage done to the headstone. Just something else families have to deal with.