KEY POINTS:
Police hunting thieves who have plundered 400 bronze plaques from an Auckland cemetery are facing difficulties finding relatives to advise them of the thefts.
The callousness of the raid has shocked cemetery staff and police after the engraved plaques were ripped from the commemorative wall at Purewa Cemetery in Meadowbank on Friday night. Only 23 were left on the wall, mainly because they were more difficult to remove.
It is not known how many people were involved but cemetery staff say it would have taken some time as screws holding the plaques in place were removed and each plaque had to be individually slid off fittings on the wall.
Newmarket CIU Sergeant Philip Richardson said police and cemetery staff were still trying to locate next-of-kin. However, that was proving to be a difficult task given the number of plaques taken and the fact some of them were more than 20 years old.
Mr Richardson said it appears the plaques were stolen so they could be sold off as scrap metal.
They are collectively worth about $300,000.
"It's a despicable and disrespectful thing to do and obviously our focus at this time is apprehending the people who are responsible."
Mr Richardson said he spent quite a bit of time yesterday fielding phone calls from concerned relatives who had heard about the thefts. Many of them were distressed and some were in tears.
North Shore man Keith Duffin spoke with police on Monday after learning his mother's 18-year-old plaque was among those stolen.
While he rarely visited the site these days Mr Duffin said the theft was still annoying and frustrating. He hoped the thieves would be unable to sell their stolen goods.
"There's always somebody after a quick dollar but I imagine most of the scrap metal dealers won't touch them."
Cemetery general manager Clifton Thomson said the cemetery was locked after dark and there were security patrols three times a night.
He appealed to anyone with information, including scrap metal dealers, to contact police.
The theft of metals is not a new problem. Schools have reported having copper spouting stolen, while North Shore police recently found tonnes of stolen copper piping in the boot of a car.
Another victim of cemetery theft, Michael Johns, said bronze headstones were taken from relative's graves in a cemetery in Pokeno last year.
One stone, placed in 1989, commemorated his father-in-law who died 50 years ago, while a smaller one was for his baby who died at birth in 1990.
When his distressed family spoke to funeral directors, who had arranged both plaques, they were shocked to be told there had been lots of bronze headstones taken from the area.
"It was very upsetting for both of us as it is desecration," Mr Johns said. Anyone with information about the plaques, or queries about a relative's plaque, should contact Constable Ross Clapp or Sergeant Philip Richardson on (09) 529-5657.
