People walk off with flowers, shrubs, flags, vigil lights and other items left on the graves of veterans by family and friends. It’s almost as busy as the weeks before Christmas, when small trees, lights and other holiday displays and memorials vanish from grave sites.

And the worst part – many of the thieves sell their goods back to cemetery visitors along the roadside, never mentioning that they’re getting second hand goods. Thieves can also sell the bronze flag holders to junkyards in exchange for cash.

While apparently cemeteries don’t keep track of the costs of stolen merchandise, we can assume it’s quite expensive.

Vigil lights cost about $75. The price of a bronze flag holder can reach about $60. Solar-powered crosses that illuminate grave sites go for about $30. Some floral arrangements run more than $100.

Some cemeteries are curbing theft by recommending that buyers sink part of the bronze holders in a coffee can of quick-set cement before placing it in the ground to anchor it. Others recommend writing their names in permannt marker on solar-powered crosses, which are becoming popular.

Aside from installing expensive surveilance systems – something most cemeteries can’t afford – there’s not much else that can help. A proposed Assembly bill is in the works in New Jersey that would include fines of between $1000 and $25,000, community service, and jail time for anyone caught stealing cemetery monuments and memorabilia.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Jack Conners, D-Burlington, Camden, was inspired by the acts of Adam Jensen. Jensen stole more than 700 bronze flag holders from 4 cemeteries in Burlington Township and sold them for scrap for about $.65 each. Conners is hoping it will raise public awareness about the problem and deter would-be thieves.

Source: PressOfAtlanticCity.com

The memorial in the historic graveyard contains the weathered names of Fitchburg men who lost their lives to combat or disease in a bloody campaign near the Mississippi River in 1863. Now, their descendants scattered and their exploits all but forgotten, the marker is just another stone upended in one of the worst acts of cemetery vandalism to hit this small city.

”That was an act of valor and courage,” said history buff Donald Lassila, motioning to the names of battles etched on the memorial. Then, turning toward the destruction, he said, ”What would you call this? An act of cowardice?”

Unfortunately, this is only the latest in a string of vandalisms over the last few years. The article reports that about 400 markers have been disturbed over the years.

Check out the online video on the CBS Boston website covering the story. I’m not sure why they only report 40 headstones – I guess as they continued looking, they found more? The video reports that police suspect 3 culprits, since they found 3 individually wrapped malt liquor bottles.

On a positive note, the incident got a number of people to take notice. Last week, a group of about 80 volunteers got together to help fix between 120 and 160 of the headstones. They even brought in a crane for some of the larger stones.

“Really it’s a museum, it’s not a cemetery,” [Ward 3 Councilor Joel Kaddy] said. “This vandalism was the catalyst for getting people to come out and help.”

The vandalism has also grabbed the attention of city officials, who say they hope to re-convene the city’s Cemetery Commission.

The commission hasn’t met for at least a year, Mayor Dan H. Mylott said.

“There’s been a heightened awareness about the historical value of our cemeteries,” Mylott said. “I think maybe this is the right time to try to put them back into shape.”

Lack of money has kept the city from fully maintaining its older cemeteries, Mylott said, and the commission only has one member at present.

Here’s a brief overview from the article

The cemetery was regarded by Armenians as the biggest and most precious repository of medieval headstones marked with crosses – the Armenians call them “khachkars” – of which more than 2,000 were still there in the late Eighties. Each elaborately carved tombstone was a masterpiece of carving.

Armenians have said that the cemetery has been razed, comparing its destruction to the demolition of two giant Buddha figures by the Taleban in Afghanistan. Azerbaijan has hit back by accusing Armenia of scaremongering, and of destroying Azerbaijani monuments on its own territory.

What exactly happened to the cemetery remains a mystery – one witness told IWPR the cemetery was destroyed in 1989. Another said there were khachkar stones on the site until 2002.