CLINTON, Tenn. — Valuable vases are disappearing from a cemetery in Clinton. Four brass vases were reportedly stolen from Grandview Memorial Garden. The Anderson County Sheriff's Office said they are on the lookout for whoever is responsible.
A place meant to bring peace to grieving families could be disrupted by thieves, ACSO said. Andrea Tindell’s mother is buried there. She lives in East Tennessee, manages the cemetery's burial grounds and has family members who were buried in the area.
"The last place I was with my mom was right here," she said.
Tindell has been managing the cemetery grounds for around six years and said it was disheartening to see meaningful vases being stolen.
“This is pretty much the only way we have to do that last final thing for our loved one and then to have somebody come take it from you," Tindell said. "It’s disgusting, I guess heartbreaking.”
Holly Gamble Meir, the owner of Grandview Memorial Garden Cemetery, said four people reported vases missing from the headstones they purchased for their loved ones throughout the week.
"Families called saying that their vases were no longer there," Meir said.
When she arrived on the grounds Friday, she counted several more missing too. She notified the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office and asked them to increase patrols in the area. She said her heart goes out to those who are experiencing this loss on top of the loss of a loved one she said.
"The thought of a family to come up here and place flowers on their loved one’s grave. I guess I don't really even have words to emotionally describe what I would be thinking,” Meir said.
Nine more brass vases are missing, which brings the total to 13. The memorial vases are not cheap. People purchase them to honor their loved ones and they typically spend around $300.
Most of the gravesites where vases were stolen were on the far side of the cemetery, away from the main road. Each of the 13 missing vases also had metal chains bolting them to the ground to deter theft. Meir said that the chains were cut.
"Seeing that, it disgusts me," she said.
They checked with local scrap yards to see if anyone had been trying to sell the vases for their metal value. She said each one she called hadn’t come across any of the stolen vases.
"They told me that if they had anything like that happen, as far as anything suspicious, that they would reach out to us," Meir said. "We plan to press the maximum charges for on whoever has done this."
Owners of the cemetery said they are going to replace the vases for those families once they can assure they won’t be stolen again. They're working to enhance around-the-clock security on site.
The Anderson County Sheriff's Office is looking for the vases too. Anyone with information about them should contact the Anderson County Sherriff's Office at (865) 457-2414 or Holley Gamble Funeral Home at (865) 457-2323.