DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Police say cold-hearted thieves have stolen from a cemetery several times in Daytona Beach.
Plaques and vases were stolen from Lohman's Memorial Park in Daytona Beach.
In a cemetery that stretches for acres there are hundreds of bronze grave markers, bearing the names of loved ones, the dates they died, and sometimes their precious family crests, but none of that matters to thieves who only see them as dollar signs.
A small name plate made of bronze is worth about $200.
"It's the cruelest thing that anyone could ever do to the survivors of a deceased person; to take their marker," said Eugene Letter, who works at the Greenwood Cemetery across town.
A Daytona Beach police report states thieves struck at Lohman's Memorial Park several times in the past three months and at other cemeteries as well.
Letter said he knows exactly why.
"Today, the cost of copper that's involved in manufacturing a bronze marker has raised the price up to a price that most people don't want to pay," said Letter.
But the question is where are they cashing the stolen grave markers in?
Like Orange County, last year Volusia County established an ordinance to regulate scrap metal dealers that requires them to ask customers for proof of ownership, limit cash transactions, and report sales to authorities.
Letter uses mostly granite at his cemetery, partly to deter vandals.
"The gray granite flat markers, they don't have any value to a scrap, scrapper guy, you know?" said Letter.
At Lohman's funeral home, owners said they're looking into more security and a surveillance system.
Almost all cemeteries are surrounded by a fence, but the biggest problem is the front gates are always open so families can come and visit.