Thieves Steal Vases From Cemetery [Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA)]

Staff Writer

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For the second time in four years, thousands of dollars worth of vases have been stolen from a Lancaster Township cemetery, police said.

Eighty-five cast-bronze vases were taken over the weekend from grave markers at Conestoga Memorial Cemetery along Second Lock Road, just off New Danville Pike (Route 324), Manheim Township police Sgt. Tom Rudzinski said.

The vases were valued at $200 each, for a total loss of $17,000.

"The value of these vases to the loved ones of the persons who they marked is immeasurable," Rudzinski said. Police believe thieves are selling them as scrap.

The "very heavy" foot-high vases are made of bronze and copper, said Tammy Eshelman, one of the cemetery's managers.

The vase is kept upside down in the grave marker, she explained. When a family wants to put flowers in it, they pull it up, turn it over and secure it into the hole.

A few families called the cemetery Monday to report the theft, Eshelman said.

One family put flowers in a vase Oct. 20, and when they returned Sunday to retrieve the flowers and put the vase upside-down for the winter, they noticed that all the vases in the Lipieta section of the cemetery were gone.

Curiously, flowers from the vases weren't thrown to the ground.

"The thief took flowers out of the vases and put the flowers in the hole, and took off with the vases," Eshelman said.

"It was upsetting to the family," she said. "I'm sure there are plenty more who are upset. They go to pay respect to their loved ones and find out something has been stolen from their grave."

Staff are still checking other areas of the 100-plus-acre cemetery to see if more vases were stolen.

The cemetery can't replace the vases for the families without charging them because insurance doesn't cover the thefts, Eshelman said.

The cemetery is trying to find vases made from cheaper material that families could use to replace the ones that were stolen, she said. The cost of those vases would likely be less than $100.

Conestoga Memorial previously sold all its cheaper vases after 37 bronze vases were stolen at the cemetery in March 2010.

"It's happening all over the U.S.," Eshelman said. "A lot of these memorial cemeteries are having thefts, not just here. It's sad. People are just very inconsiderate."

The thief was "absolutely smart enough" to pick the bronze vases to steal, she said. The replacement ones are much lighter and look different.

The 18,000-plot cemetery is owned by C.M.S. East Inc., of Jeannette.

Eshelman has worked there 35 years and didn't remember any instances prior to 2010 of vases being stolen.

Police never arrested the thief in that incident, Rudzinski said. They are trying to track down the latest thief, but need help from the public.

If someone saw a suspicious person in or near the cemetery or sees someone trying to sell a large number of the vases, police want to know about it.

Anyone with information is asked to call them at 569-6401 or at an anonymous crime tipline at 569-2816.

Tipsters also may call Lancaster City/County Crime Stoppers at 1- 800-322-1913 or anonymously text LANCS plus a message to 847411 (TIP411).