Published: July 24, 2008 02:40 am      

CRIME: Thieves targeting graveyard plaques

PENDLETON — There’s no marker at the spot where Evelyn Krehan’s brother is buried.

When Klaus Walther, a U.S. Navy veteran, died last fall, Krehan expected to have his grave, which is next to the graves of both their parents, marked with the bronze plaque provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“I said, ‘If they’re going to do the military plaque, there’s no reason to carve up my parents’ stone,’ ” she said.

She said the plaque was received by the cemetery in the fall and was meant to be placed in the spring, but it never made it to the ground.

The marker was stolen from Acacia Park Cemetery, apparently as part of a crime spree that hit several local cemeteries in the spring.

Krehan reported the marker stolen about two weeks ago. The bronze marker, which according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs weighs about 18 pounds, may have been sold for scrap.

The incident has shaken Krehan’s trust in the cemetery where her family is buried. Standing at the graveside on Friday, she said she was surprised the flowers and solar lamp she’d placed above her parents’ headstone were still there.

“(They said) my family would be in good hands, rest assured that everything would be looked after and taken care of,” she said. “It seems like every time I put something here, it gets stolen.”

Two Town of Tonawanda men were charged last month in connection with thefts of metal vases at Elmlawn and Mount Olivet cemeteries in that town. The suspects are Robert Samson, 52, of Sheridan-Parkside Drive, and James Howard, 47, of Pyle Court.

The men are also suspected in the thefts of vases from Acacia Park and Forest Lawn cemeteries. Cemetery employee Patty Young said hundreds of vases were stolen from Acacia Park.

Young described the thefts as a “planned venture.”

“It wasn’t like they just drove in and took a few,” she said. “It’s really sad because they hit all these cemeteries. ... We were glad they were caught.”

Niagara County Sheriff’s Deputy Brett Thompson said thefts from cemeteries aren’t very common, but the rising prices of scrap metal can lead people to steal anything made of metal.

“It does occur,” Thompson said. “It’s made of bronze, and bronze is worth a lot of money. ... That could become a problem.”

As a result of the thefts, area cemeteries have come together to find a means to replace the stolen vases and plaques.

“We are putting together a plan,” Young said.

The New York State Cemetery Board has a special vandalism fund, which acts as an insurance policy for cemeteries, Young said.

“Every cemetery pays into it,” she said.

Meanwhile, Young said, the cemetery has asked for more frequent patrols from the sheriff’s department, and there are also “some internal controls we’ve changed.”

Thompson said that any suspicious activity in cemeteries should be reported.

“If you see a car in there at night, you know it’s not supposed to be there,” he said.

Krehan said she hopes other people will check their loved ones’ graves to make sure nothing has been stolen from them.

“I bet they’re going to have a heart attack, like I almost had, when they come thinking they’re going to find a bronze military plaque honoring their loved one, and there’s nothing but a bare plot of grass,” she said. “I’d like to save somebody some heartache.”

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.