Flower thefts distress grave visitors

Cemetery officials say there's little they can do.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- When Pat Tate places fresh flowers at her son's grave today, she'll leave wondering whether they will stay there.
Some people who leave flowers and other decorations at the graves of loved ones have learned that theft is unavoidable, even in cemeteries.
At least three times, flowers that Tate placed at her son's headstone were stolen at St. Joseph Cemetery. Twice, grave blankets draped over the ground were snatched from the burial site for Douglas Lee Tate, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 when he was 18.
"I planted them, and somebody took them right out of the ground," said Tate, of suburban Grove City. "You just feel like it was your heart that got ripped out."
Little to be done
Cemetery officials said there's little they can do to stop the thefts, short of mounting surveillance cameras and putting up fences.
"It's very unfortunate that there are people out there that don't respect the sanctity or memory of others," said Rich Finn, director of cemeteries for the Catholic Diocese of Columbus.
"Unfortunately, it's part of our culture. Things get stolen from people all the time, and cemeteries are not immune from that."
Bob Fells, spokesman for the 6,300-member International Cemetery and Funeral Association based in Reston, Va., said cemetery theft is a problem, but it isn't necessarily worse that what it used to be.
"As a general rule, the larger the cemetery and the more urban the location, the likelihood for problems is going to increase," Fells said.
Because most cemeteries are nonprofit, they don't have the money to hire security, he said.
Removed sometimes
Sometimes, flowers aren't actually stolen, said Carl Vine, operations manager for Green Lawn Cemetery. They're removed by groundskeepers when they die, he said.
Cemeteries typically have policies outlining what items can be left at graves and visitors may not be familiar with the regulations. Decorative rocks and shepherd's hooks, for example, are not permitted in Green Lawn.
The rocks can become dangerous projectiles when the cemetery is mowed, and the hooks can snag clothing or skin, Vine said.
Prohibited decorations are more likely to be removed this time of year as crews manicure lawns and tidy graves in preparation for visitors and numerous memorial services.
Finn said that in 20 years, he has caught flower thieves only once.
"They were two little old ladies. And what they did was take the flowers and put them on another grave," he said.