News 12 at 11, July 22, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga. --- Stealing off of someone's grave.

"It bothers me to know that people have to dip that low to make ends meet," Suzanne Jones said.

Suzanne Jones checking on her mother's gravesite. Her brother and father are also buried here.

"I just wanted to make sure that their's weren't any of them that were taken. Just to make sure they had been left alone," Jones said.

And they were. But many other gravesites were not left alone. Last Thursday, one of the workers at Hillcrest Memorial Park saw a man carrying bronze vases. They approached the man, who apologized to them before running toward Gordon Highway. That same worker found a duffel bag filled with 12 bronze vases. The next day they noticed 27 more vases missing.

"There's no excuse for it at all. There's no excuse. It's heartbreaking. It's absolutely heartbreaking," Jones said.

Suzanne says it bothers her to know this is going on at a place like this, a place she visits often. Investigator Aaron Haansz says it's not just copper, thieves are looking for.

"Any thing that's not strapped down. If it's made of metal they'll steal it," Investigator Aaron Hannsz said.

Monday, another 31 bronze vases were discovered missing. So now, 58 vases are gone. And with each one worth as much as $125 it all adds up to thousands in stolen property.

"If air-conditioning units are being stolen from buildings and churches, I mean...what's next," Jones said.

Investigators have told the recycling centers to be on the lookout for the vases. And at Hillcrest Memorial Park, they've already ordered all new vases to replace the ones that were stolen.