Mansfield cemetery victimized by recent pair of thefts

MANSFIELD, Mass. — Mansfield Police are investigating at least two thefts from a cemetery in town that have happened in recent weeks. One grave at St. Mary’s Cemetery had just been decorated by a loved one last week, only to see the items taken.

Family members of a woman recently buried there decorated her headstone Wednesday and came back on Saturday to find that everything was gone.

As you walk through St. Mary’s Cemetery, every few steps, you see headstones, red ribbons, wreaths and potted plants. Decorations are all over, like the ones Jenn Hebard and her kids added to her mother Donna Scott’s grave last week.

“My children and I went there on Wednesday and we put down a decorated Christmas tree that lights, ornaments, the whole nine yards,” Hebard said.

She called police and posted about the incident on Facebook after the items were stolen. Turns out it wasn’t the only theft at the cemetery, another one was also reported to officers.

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“I guess it’s a [learning] lesson for us that, you know, even at the cemetery nothing’s safe,” Hebard said. “But it’s just disgusting that things were stolen from a cemetery.”

On Monday, Paula Pembroke came to St. Mary’s to leave decorations for several loved ones buried there. She was appalled to hear of thefts at a place so sacred.

“I think it's very desperate for people to steal things from graves [and] cemeteries,” she said.

Years ago, at a different cemetery, items were taken from a member of her family’s grave.

“It made us feel very sick that somebody would steal off of a grave,” she said.

St. Mary’s is run by a parish nearby, they say thefts there are rare. People are allowed to leave items at the graves and the parish does not disturb them.

Meantime, police say their investigation continues.

A previous version of this story referred to the incidents at St. Mary’s Cemetery as a “string of thefts.” We have corrected the copy to accurately state that there have been at least two thefts at the cemetery in recent weeks.

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