DEAD WRONG: Bronze door handles, name plates and vents were stolen from 65 mausoleums in the historic St. Raymond Cemetery in The Bronx since last Friday. (Tomas E. Gaston)
DEAD WRONG: Bronze door handles, name plates and vents were stolen from 65 mausoleums in the historic St. Raymond Cemetery in The Bronx since last Friday. (
)
Ghoulish grave robbers have looted $160,000 worth of valuable bronze from mausoleums in a historic Bronx cemetery, law-enforcement sources said yesterday.
The thief or thieves cut off door handles and even stole name plates and vents from 65 mausoleums at St. Raymond Cemetery in Throgs Neck between Friday and yesterday, when the thefts were discovered, the sources said.
“I think it’s despicable to disturb someone’s eternal rest just to make money,” said Anthony Messina, 53, a Morris Park man who visited his grandmother’s grave yesterday. “To me, it’s not right.”
Police have made no arrests and don’t know whether there was more than one thief at work.
The rip-off was made easier by lax security at the storied cemetery, law-enforcement sources said.
“They were asleep at the wheel. That’s why they didn’t notice them missing,” one source said.
Calls to the cemetery office and to the Church of St. Raymond were not returned.
Grieving visitors to the Catholic cemetery were angered by the thefts.
“With the amount of money we pay to bury here, there should be better security. They have to put someone here to take care of this place. It’s very, very sad,” said Rosa Miranda, 49, an Inwood woman visiting her sister’s grave.
About 4,000 people — mostly Catholics — are buried in the quiet 180-acre cemetery each year, making it one of the busiest graveyards in the country.
Notables buried there include jazz singer Billie Holiday as well as bishops and other Catholic leaders.
World champion boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho was buried there in December after he was shot in the face in Puerto Rico.
Savvy thieves steal bronze so they can resell it as scrap metal, law-enforcement sources said.
“It’s messed up. It’s an ugly thing to do. They should arrest whoever did it,” said Catalino Espada, 54, who was visiting her parents’ sites.
“Doing something like that is awful,” Espada added.