More than $15,000 worth of brass flower vases were stolen from a Batavia cemetery, Kane County sheriff's police said Monday.
River Hills Memorial Park employees contacted police after a visitor reported the metal vase missing from a relative's headstone. Police discovered 39 vases stolen from the cemetery and three more were tampered with but left behind. Cemetery employees believe the thefts took place sometime after Easter weekend.
The cemetery estimates each vase was valued at $400, making the total worth of the stolen vases $15,600, according to police. The vases possibly were stolen to be sold as scrap metal.
Police say they are attempting to obtain fingerprints from the vases that were left behind.
