The Charles County Sheriff’s Office has arrested two men accused of stealing more than 100 bronze vases from a cemetery so they could be melted down.
The memorial vases, worth a total of more than $100,000, were taken at separate times from Trinity Memorial Gardens in Waldorf last month and earlier this month.
On July 8, deputies noticed a van near the cemetery and, upon following up, found vases in trash cans, the sheriff’s office said on social media.
Investigating the van also led them to suspects Trey Mason, 25, arrested on July 9, and David Downing, 34, arrested on July 16, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies were able to recover additional vases from a scrap metal recycler in another jurisdiction before the vases could be melted down.
“Honestly this is the lowest you have to go, to steal from the dead is something that’s inexcusable. … We paid for our loved ones to have this peaceful resting place that is complete, and it’s almost like it’s all for nothing,” Madison Shotwell, who had vases stolen from the graves of her father and grandfather, told WJLA-TV.
Mr. Mason and Mr. Dowling remain in custody without bond, and are each charged with destruction of property, fraud, theft scheme and related charges, the sheriff’s office said. The two are due in court in September, according to WTOP-FM.
Scrap dealers are also forbidden under Maryland law from accepting items like the stolen cemetery vases.
Charles County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Diane Richardson told WTOP-FM that the scrap dealer, which the sheriff’s office did not name, is under investigation by the Maryland State Police.
The sheriff’s office has not said where the scrap metal recycler is located.
