$1,300 in bronze plaques stolen from Massillon cemetery

MASSILLON, Ohio - Bronze-plated plaques worth more than $1,000 were taken from a Massillon cemetery this week.

Thirteen out of the 14 plaques that surrounded the chapel at St. Joseph Cemetery were discovered missing on Tuesday, said groundskeeper Randy Smith.

The plaques, which are valued at $100 a piece, were bought by parishioners about a year ago in memory of deceased loved ones. They were housed in wooded boxes and it's believed thieves took them to sell as scrap.

"I was quite angry that someone had broken the sanctity of the cemetery and I was also heartbroken for the people who had spent the money to purchase these in memory of someone," Smith said.

Smith's own family had purchased one of the plaques in memory of his father and his wife's parents.

St. Joseph Cemetery sits across from the Massillon Cemetery on Erie Street South.

Anyone with information should call the Massillon Police Department at 330-832-9811 or the church at 330-833-4907.