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The theft of brass plaques from the graves of war heroes was described by a Tauranga District Court judge as "wanton destruction" which had "outraged" the community.
Judge Christopher Harding's remarks came during the separate sentencing yesterday of two men who were each convicted late last year.
On November 6, Timothy Saywell, 22, a stonemason, and Thomas Dominey, 40, unemployed, went to Tauranga's Pyes Pa cemetery and prised nine memorial plaques from concrete bases.
The ornamental tablets, worth $850 each, featured the names of soldiers who died in World Wars I and II. Some also carried names of deceased wives.
Judge Harding said the men sold the plaques, which they folded over to hide the inscriptions, to a scrap metal dealer for a total of $104.
Saywell repeated the process five days later.
On November 11, Armistice Day, he worked loose another 12 plaques and stored them near his house, the judge said. Police later recovered them, undamaged.
Saywell had pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and Dominey to one theft charge. Saywell's lawyer Jim Smylie said the father of a toddler son was "totally disgusted" with what he had done.
"He asks the question every day: 'Why did I do it? Why did I do it?' Since then, a friend has died in a car accident and that has given him some understanding of what he has done," Mr Smylie said.
Judge Harding said Saywell had minimised his involvement and explained it as "an outburst of idiotic behaviour".
He imposed a sentence of five months' home detention with abstinence from alcohol and illicit drugs, plus 150 hours' community work.
For Dominey, counsel Craig Tuck described the type of offending as one-off. It was many years since his client had faced any dishonesty charges and he was "fully remorseful".
Judge Harding: "You (Dominey) told police it was an act of stupidity, which it undoubtedly was."
A remorseful Dominey, who reportedly had significant mental health problems and was a drug addict, had not considered the consequences, the judge said. He had written letters of apology to the families affected.
Warned that he had come "perilously close to a sentence of imprisonment", Dominey was ordered to do 300 hours' community work and undergo 12 months of intensive supervision with special conditions relating to appropriate treatment for drug and alcohol problems.
Judge Harding ordered both men to pay reparation of $3825, plus $52 each to the scrap metal dealer.
- NZPA
