LIVONIA, Mich. – Police are investigating after complaints at Glen Eden Memorial Park in Livonia, where 141 bronze grave markers were stolen through an unfenced area of the cemetery.
Randy, a grieving son who lost both parents within six months, is one of the visitors who discovered the theft during a recent visit to his father’s grave.
“It breaks my heart – it’s hard to even talk about — that someone would’ve even done this,” said Randy.
The bronze vases, weighing about 10 pounds each, are valued at roughly $300 apiece.
Randy came to place a Christmas wreath and flowers in his father’s vase, which was carefully chosen as a symbol of love and remembrance.
“It wasn’t there, and I noticed a lot of people around my father’s as well – their loved ones' vases were missing as well,” Randy said.
The thefts are believed to have occurred in late November in at least two separate incidents.
Cemetery officials have filed an insurance claim to address the losses and have already started replacing the vases.
They said a neighbor spotted a couple of people sneaking around in the middle of the night but did not capture the likely thieves on camera.
The vases were taken from two areas of the cemetery: the Ascension section and the Reformation section.
If anyone spots the bronze vases being sold or scrapped, they plead for people to report it.
“It was just like desecrated, Randy said. “Some of these people’s loved ones have been gone for 30 years, and they won’t even know about this.”
