(VitalNews.org) – Last week, at the Lincoln Memorial Park in California, more than 100 nameplates were stolen by thieves. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the incident happened on Friday morning and comes right after a similar incident that occurred at Woodlawn Celestial Gardens, which is near Compton.
There were more than 100 bronze nameplates stolen from the cemetery and they even stole a large plaque that was to recognize and celebrate WWII African American Veterans. This plaque in particular had been donated back in 1944 by boxer Joe Louis.
Community advocate Aisha Woods told City News Service that “it takes a lot of force to pry this off,” as she shows a nameplate that was bent upwards but not fully removed yet. The Lincoln Memorial cemetery has a large Lincoln statue in the cemetery. Tools had been left at the scene where they tried to take this monumental statue. Woods continued by saying that “they’ve tried twice to take him,” referring to the Lincoln statue.
Woods also said that she thinks they are stealing them to pawn them off or sell them for money. She also speaks out about families who are replacing these plaques with pieces of tape for their loved ones.
Aisha Woods is advocating to get some sort of help in the cemetery to make it more peaceful for those who are going to visit their deceased relatives. “We try to keep Lincoln Memorial open Monday through Friday, so people can visit their loved ones. But if we don’t get some help, security, or cameras, there’s going to be nothing to visit, if this continues,” she said.
They’ve recently tried bringing in the Veterans Administration to help with maintenance as well as donating security cameras or something equivalent so that this doesn’t happen again. But efforts to get this done have been unsuccessful.
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