Graham Hastie came out from Ladner to visit his mom Pearl鈥檚 grave on Mother鈥檚 Day when he, as had maybe 100 other mourners recently, found somebody had swiped his loved one鈥檚 bronze vase from her plot at Valley View Memorial Gardens in Newton.
Vancouver resident Norm Wrightman said his brother went to put flowers on their parents Harold and Mildred鈥檚 grave about a week ago and also found 鈥渜uite a number鈥� of the vases had been removed from the bronze markers.
鈥淚t is very disrespectful,鈥� Wrightman told the Now-Leader. 鈥淚 mean, how desperate are you for money for illicit purposes that you would go into a graveyard and steal from the dead?
鈥淭hat鈥檚 just disgusting.鈥�
Justin Schultz, funeral home manager, echoed Wrightman鈥檚 revulsion.
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely going to work with the families,鈥� Schultz said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have an exact number but there was a recent of a fairly significant number of vases. It is disappointing and we鈥檙e sorry it happened. It鈥檚 truly unfortunate for these folks.鈥�
Schultz said Valley View, at 14660 72nd Ave., has since beefed up security.
性视界传媒 RCMP is investigating but has yet to identify a suspect. 鈥淲e have no leads,鈥� Corporal Scotty Schumann said. Schultz said it鈥檚 his understanding the police 鈥渉ave been working with the metal recyclers to try and figure out whether they can establish where these vases ended up.鈥�
Besides identifying the thief or thieves, victims and police want to know who might have already bought the stolen vases, and if they did, if they knew the vases had been stolen from a cemetery.
Hastie is shocked by the sheer number taken.
鈥淲ho would melt that down, or whatever, and where would it go? It鈥檚 obvious what they are,鈥� he said of the vases. The further he walked in the 115-acre cemetery, he said, the more unbelievable the scope of this crime became.
鈥淲hat I counted was up to a hundred. Holy, this is a massive amount. Where are they all going?鈥�
His mom鈥檚 vase, he said, 鈥渉ad a chain hooked up 鈥� they all do. They had to rip them off and carry them. I would guess it鈥檚 some sort of brass, bronze, that kind of material.
鈥淎 lady that was visiting her husband; her鈥檚 was gone too.鈥� Hastie said the woman approached the people in charge of Valley View. 鈥淪he went up and talked to them and apparently there鈥檚 not a total count yet but there鈥檚 a massive amount that are gone, and they鈥檙e not going to replace them apparently because they say they鈥檙e just going to get stolen again.鈥�
Schultz said Valley View hopes that while the police investigation 鈥渨ill be fruitful鈥� the cemetery won鈥檛 leave the families hanging.
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e offered to do for the customers is provide them vases at our cost,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat it cost for us to manufacture them, that鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檒l provide them to the customers for. At our cost, it鈥檚 roughly $300.
鈥淚t certainly is disappointing when something like that happens in the cemetery,鈥� Schultz said. 鈥淲e like to think this is something that perhaps people would reconsider perpetrating a theft in the cemetery but unfortunately, obviously it happened.鈥�
鈥淗opefully the more the word gets out the more people will be vigilant about reconsidering taking something like this from someone who might bring it to them seeking some cash value for it.鈥�
Wrightman agreed.
鈥淚 hope some recycler reads it (this newspaper story) and realizes what he鈥檚 got,鈥� Wrightman said. 鈥淎nyways, to my understanding, I remember a few years ago something very similar happened but the recycler recognized what they were and didn鈥檛 accept them, turned them all back. I was hoping that with a little bit of publicity that might happen again. You know, metal recyclers should be licensed just like pawnbrokers and be required to take ID.
鈥淎lso the name plaque for my father had been unscrewed but left there. Maybe they figured it would be too obvious that it came from a graveyard, I don鈥檛 know. They took the screws. I contacted the administration at the cemetery and they said yes, unfortunately they were aware of it. Later on I got a call from an RCMP officer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 upsetting; of course it鈥檚 disrespectful,鈥� Wrightman said. 鈥淭hose vases, because they鈥檙e bronze, cost between $500 and $600 to replace. So, who knows what pittance this individual will get from the recycler with the weight of the bronze, it鈥檚 not that, it鈥檚 the fabrication and shipping and all the rest that it鈥檚 going to cost us to replace it. It鈥檚 a shame.鈥�
The vases also contain copper, he said. 鈥淢aybe that鈥檚 what they鈥檙e after, I don鈥檛 know. It鈥檚 not just annoyance with the money, you go out there with a nice bunch of flowers, and you find this?鈥�
As for metal thieves, he lamented, 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 care. They steal the ground wires from street lights without any concern about safety. They don鈥檛 care.鈥�
