Police ask public’s help in solving cemetery thefts, vandalism

Grafton, Utah, cemetery south of Zion National Park
Grafton cemetery south of Zion National Park, date unspecified | Photo by Don Gilman, St. George News

CEDAR CITY The Cedar City Police Department is investigating several thefts and incidents of vandalism that occurred at the Cedar City Cemetery over the past few months.

On Monday, The Police Department asked for the public’s help in solving the crimes and identifying possible suspects.

“It is disheartening to know that there are those in our community who would steal small mementos from a grave or break flower vases and other similar items placed there by a grieving family,” police said in a media statement Monday. “Unfortunately, this is a sad reality.”

Despite increased police patrols and efforts to identify the perpetrators, the Police Department said it has no leads.

“We have a wonderful community, and we do not want to see this type of behavior continue,” the Police Department said in the statement.

Police are now asking for assistance from the community to help solve these crimes. Anyone with information about the incidents in question is asked to contact the Cedar City Police Department at 435-586-2956.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

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3 Comments

  • debbie January 11, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    this was happening in another state.. i wanna say ohio.. i can’t remember.. the thing is.. a. some cultures spend a lot of time at the cemetary.. its how they keep the family name and remembrances of each other strong.. great aunts do not fade away into history.. i think ppl from spain, mexico, italy and germany really brought this into our country (the tradition) anyways if i remember it correctly, it can get very very very expensive, going to the graves every two or three weeks.. after a few years your could be the custodian of 30 or more gravesites.. especially if all the other family members moved away.. and you could be very looked down on if you don’t keep the grave sites fresh, with new material and spend time readying it for big family get togethers… (i know tis strange to the average american BUT its making a comeback) anyways.. if you have 30 deceased relatives and you visit their gravesites on the anniverary of their births, deaths and certain holidays, you could find yourself at a grave nearly every week. it is always expected to refresh faded plastic flowers, tinker toys, spinny windmills and the likes. so to help with the bill, they will go steal from other graves.. often breaking vases from graves to give hint to theirselves in the future as to whom they have robbed and to whom they haven’t. (they don’t wanna keep robbing the same graves they’ll get caught) and thats how they actually did catch ppl in the end. well one guy put up a camera. he kept putting arrangements out that the thieves couldn’t resist..lol (thats hysterical) he caught them.. but in one of the cases, it was a lady that just wanted to add to her garden.. so if it was in a pot… to her it was stolen. Good luck with that.. where my dad is buried, they don’t allow any of that stuff.. stinks really.

  • .... January 12, 2016 at 3:21 pm

    I agree the price of tuna has gotten out of control . and yes I agree that the State of Utah should just give people a cow instead of handing out Milk and cheese every month.

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