With the dawn of Holy Week comes the annual flood of letters from community members who are distraught that someone stole a decoration off their loved one’s grave.

Tuesday, April 18, 2000

With the dawn of Holy Week comes the annual flood of letters from community members who are distraught that someone stole a decoration off their loved one’s grave.

The complaint is not limited to Easter. Whenever there is a holiday, unscrupulous people sneak into the area cemeteries and swipe decorations off the graves of those who are buried there.

Some of those treasured memorials don’t even last a week before someone decides that the arrangement is fair game.

The sad fact is, those flowers, wreaths and other tributes are probably not being stolen by vandals or teens out for a little mayhem.

The people who are misappropriating these decorations are most likely adults who do not want to buy a floral display of their own.

To say this is despicable is to put it mildly. Those flowers might not cost hundreds of dollars – although some are quite expensive. They might not be irreplaceable, either, but they are a way for a grieving family to feel a little better as they deal with the pain and sorrow that often accompany a holiday without someone they love.

Anyone who would be so callous as to steal a grave decoration would probably not be swayed by such an appeal.

But there are many of us who are in the cemeteries for a variety of reasons. Perhaps we could all keep our eyes open for these thieves.

Knowing we are helping to protect these memorials might not make the families feel better, but it could bring them a little piece of mind.