Sheriff: Suspects Stole ‘Hundreds’ of Vases from Illinois Cemeteries, Sold to Scrapyards

A pair of suspects are accused of stealing vases from cemeteries in two Illinois counties, then selling them to scrapyards now under investigation for liability.

In August, Lake County deputies were alerted that several of the vases had been stolen from a cemetery in Libertyville that were valued between $500 and $800, Fox 32 reported Thursday.

“Authorities investigated further and found that hundreds of similar vases had been stolen from cemeteries in Lake and McHenry counties,” the outlet said.

Officials identified the suspects in the case as Waukegan residents 41-year-old Marcos Mendez and 30-year-old Fermin Tonche-Gallardo. The men allegedly stole the vases then sold them to scrapyards.

“There’s nothing much lower than stealing from those resting in peace. Instead of honoring their loved ones, people were victimized by theft at a sacred place,” Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg told the Lake & McHenry County Scanner:

ABC 7 reported about the thefts in September, when a woman named Michelle Tucsek, whose parents’ graves were damaged, told the outlet, “My gosh, may God punish you for doing that, you know. It’s just, it’s awful.”

“It’s a hundred, two hundred vases, if not more. I found four or five just thrown on the ground. I don’t know if they had too many in their hand and dropping them,” she added.

After his appearance in court on Thursday, Tonche-Gallardo was released under pretrial conditions, per the Fox article.

In March 2022, several historic gravestones were vandalized at a cemetery in Waxahachie, Texas, with several of them pushed over and or broken apart, according to Breitbart News.

“While the destruction affected both the new and historic areas of the cemetery, most of the damage occurred to older stones, some of which being over 100 years old,” police said at the time.