Pocono News Section

Cemetery Thefts Continue in Luzerne County

Cemetery Thefts Continue in Luzerne County - Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 5:00PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 @05:00pm EST
FRANKLIN TWP., LUZERNE COUNTY- A sacred resting place has become a target for thieves. For the last six months, thieves have been stealing expensive vases from a cemetery. More victims are coming forward this week, and hundreds of vases have been taken so far.

More than 400 gravesites at the Memorial Shrine Cemetery in Luzerne County have been looking bare lately. Thieves have been stealing costly bronze and copper vases, leaving empty holes in their wake.

Dan Hughes of Harold C. Snowdon Funeral Home said, “It’s very unfortunate that people would steal from the cemetery. It’s unfortunate, but they know there's a value to the vases, so that’s what they take, the things that are of value."

Each vase has a value of more than $200. That puts the theft spree loss at more than $80,000. For the past few days, people like Elaine Bowman have come to find out if her family's graves were a target. “I've wondered how could they even think about doing that, I would have never thought of taking them," she said.

Bowman, along with Chad Altemus of Tunkhannock, are lucky. ”I didn't find anything with my family, but I did pass stones where they were missing and it’s a shame," he said.

Cemetery officials say the theft of the vases has been scattered throughout the cemetery. It’s not just isolated to one location. Because the cemetery has been the target of thieves, changes could soon be in order. “We've been looking at doing some private security here, with either cameras or having someone, a security guard, in the property overnight, because that's when the thefts seem to be occurring," said Hughes.

As for "if" a suspect is caught, families want him or her to answer to more than just a higher power. “Give them to the families who they took the flower vases from and they'll do something to them, I'm sure," added Bowman.

State police say they are now looking into the case of cemetery thefts in Luzerne County.