09/07/2025
This is just so awful 😢
Police are working to return close to half a tonne of bronze and brass items ripped from the gravesites of loved ones at cemeteries across Norfolk County south of Brantford in Ontario. An Oxford County man is facing charges in connection with a rash of recent thefts, including name plates, fixtures, vases and urns, at least one of them containing human remains, from cemeteries in Port Rowan, Langton, Port Dover and Delhi.
Norfolk OPP say a man was spotted by an officer on patrol leaving Waterford Greenwood Cemetery on the morning of Aug. 19 in a vehicle later found to be filled with metal items and other stolen property. The accused, who is 39, was located by police and charged.
Const. Andrew Gamble, Norfolk OPP’s community engagement officer, said about 1,000 pounds of metal, most of it bronze and linked to the investigation was recovered from a scrapyard. In a video that pans across two long tables filled with the stolen items, Gamble said the sheer volume of the pilfered brass memorials and grave markers has had an impact on police.
“What these items represent are dozens of desecrated gravesites,” said Gamble. “It’s difficult to describe what you’re seeing when you’re standing in front of it in person. I can tell you that any officer who has walked past these two tables at any point today are at a loss for words. It shows that the impact of this crime is so far reaching in our community. “Our investigators at the Norfolk County detachment are working very diligently to identify the affected community members and reunite them with the items or monuments that were stolen.”
Gamble said some pieces may have unique identifiers, which can help them locate owners, but a significant number have been damaged to the point that identifiers are no longer visible.
“We are working through a careful process to catalogue and process the evidence, which includes consultation with the Bereavement Authority of Ontario and Norfolk County staff,” he said. “Given the volume of items and the need to document each piece properly, returning even a single item can take time. We appreciate the public’s patience and support as the investigation continues.”
The accused in the matter has been charged with mischief, possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000, theft under $5,000, indignity to a dead body, trafficking in stolen goods over $5,000 (including possession with intent to traffic), and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
Police say they recovered items from a vehicle, including an urn containing human remains. Investigators determined the stolen metal was being sold for scrap.
Bronze was selling recently for $4 a pound. Thieves may grind off identifying information from a memorial nameplate, leaving an indistinguishable piece of metal to resell. Local metal recyclers said it can be a challenge to tell stolen material apart from metal that comes in for legitimate reasons. When damaged nameplates from gravesites are replaced, for example, the older versions often end up at recyclers. Most companies require sellers to provide photo identification and a licence plate number and staff note the type of metal sold so they can provide that information to police if they suspect suspicious activity.
