This year, Middletown cemeteries have seen the theft of war medallions that mark the graves of veterans, an iron urn, countless flowers and wreaths and knocked over and damaged tombstones.
Because most cemeteries don’t have full-time security, surveillance cameras and some grounds are spread out over many acres, Lt. Scott Reeve of the Middletown Division of Police called them “difficult crimes to thwart.”
Reeve said the police department teams with Woodside Cemetery & Arboretum, the city’s largest cemetery, by working off-duty shifts around Memorial Day, the busiest time of the year at cemeteries. Still, he said, officers can’t be everywhere, especially in the 100-acre Woodside Cemetery.
And even when an officer sees someone removing flowers off a grave, it’s “extremely difficult” to tell whether the flowers belong to them or they’re stealing them, Reeve said. The officers don’t want to falsely accuse anyone, he said.
There was no confusion what happened this spring at Woodside. Between 25 to 30 medallions were reported stolen, and several of the copper military items, after a story appeared in The Journal, were found and returned to the cemetery.
Fred Wehr, longtime director of the cemetery, said the six-inch military flag standards cost about $60 and are worth about $6 if they’re sold to scrap yards.
Shannon Williams, of Preble County, said the copper medallion that was at the grave of her father and grandfather, both veterans of war, was stolen a few days after Memorial Day. She said she had placed the medallion and flag holder at Woodside for about 50 years.
“I wish they’d find something else to steal,” said Williams, 62. “Don’t steal my memories. It’s very, very disheartening.”
That’s the way a local woman felt when she visited graves in July at Woodside and discovered an iron urn — “it would take several men to carry” — had been stolen off her grandfather’s grave. If the urn was sold for scrap, it would be worth “quite a bit of money,” said the woman who wanted to remain anonymous because she was afraid the thieves may damage the tombstone out of revenge.
She said her grandparents, parents and a son are buried at Woodside. Her whole family is buried there, she said.
“That’s what made it hard for me,” she said.
She doesn’t understand why someone would steal an urn that holds flowers — or anything from a cemetery.
“You just have to think what they must be going through,” she said, her voice trailing off. “They must not have feelings.”
Deb Morrison, co-chairman of the Middletown Cemetery, agreed.
“It’s despicable,” she said of cemetery thefts. “I don’t know what kind of person would do something like that.”
Neither does Wehr.
“It’s beyond comprehension,” he said. “On judgment day, and I truly believe this, the good Lord will take care of those that stole from the dead.”
Wehr said cemeteries are taking steps to reduce thefts, including hiring off-duty police officers and having security personnel drive around the cemetery. It’s his hope, he said, to “keep people honest.”
He said cemeteries, because of their size and lack of traffic, are “likely spots” for those who are “looking for money.”
When Wehr meets with families, he tells them not to leave anything at the cemetery they “can’t afford to lose.”
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