Stolen cemetery plaques recovered

It’s a positive update to what was a despicable theft.

Police in West Kelowna have recovered a large amount of bronze plaques that were stolen from cemeteries in West Kelowna and Kelowna earlier this month.

“On September 16, West Kelowna RCMP received their first report that a number of bronze plaques had been removed from the grave stones at a local cemetery in West Kelowna. Police were then alerted to two more reports where unknown suspects stole bronze plaques overnight from cemeteries in Lake Country and Kelowna,” said Const. Lesley Smith.

Tips led to Mounties finding some bronze squares at an undisclosed site Sept. 25.

“Officers found a large pile of bronze squares at the scene and it was evident that the suspect(s) had removed the names from some of the plaques and cut them into these small squares likely in preparation to turning them in for recycling processing,” Smith added.

Some plaques were also stolen from the Lake Country cemetery, but they have yet to be recovered.

The recovered plaques have been returned to their respective municipalities and the families affected are asked to contact the cemeteries involved to make further arrangements.

“Our investigation into these thefts continue and no arrests have been made at this time” States Cst. Lesley Smith Kelowna RCMP “RCMP have yet to identify any suspect(s) involved and therefore are asking anyone with information pertaining to these thefts to please contact the local RCMP at 250 762-3300”.

“Police believe the motive behind the thefts was purely for personal gain as investigators believe these plaques were stolen for their material worth,” said Smith.