17 May 2019

Woman charged with theft over missing cemetery plaques

7:48 am on 17 May 2019

A 41-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with theft after dozens of plaques went missing from a cemetery in Christchurch.

The plaques vanished from Springston Cemetery after Anzac Day, and were reported missing to the police by a Selwyn District Council staffer last week.

Police said the woman has been charged with theft and is to appear in Christchurch District Court today.

They said they were alerted to the thefts on 6 May, and a week later recovered 17 plaques that had been sold to a Christchurch scrap dealer.

They said the woman was arrested after allegedly selling another 32 plaques to a second scrap dealer.