A brass tombstone stolen from a cemetery in Stony Plain has left Jody Arkinstall asking who could have targeted her grandparents’ grave.
“The first thing is you’re sad. Then when you get over that, you’re really mad. And then disgusted. And then baffled,” Arkinstall said.
Family believe the tombstone of Garnet and Ruth Yost was stolen by someone who thought it was made of copper. (Supplied/Jody Arkinstall)
The tombstone was flat and flush to the ground. Markings around the grave site suggest someone last week used a crowbar to pry the piece out of the ground. Arkinstall suspects someone must have mistaken the piece for copper.
“That’s the only thing that would make any sense. They were well-respected citizens. There’s absolutely no reason in the world why they would be personally targeted. There’s none whatsoever. We honestly feel it was just crack-heads looking for a buck.”
The cemetery’s caretaker notified Arkinstall’s family of the theft. She suspects the last time a family member visited the site was approximately two to three weeks earlier.
The family called RCMP immediately. RCMP could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Arkinstall has little hope the family will be able to recover the tombstone. But memories of her grandparents cannot be stolen, she said.
“They stole the headstone, they can have that. But they can never take the love and respect that we had for them. We cherish them and they can’t take that away.”