West Kelowna steps up security after grave markers stolen

The City of West Kelowna is stepping up security precautions after 53 bronze grave markers were stolen from the Westbank Cemetery.

The city said the break-in happened on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 14, after the lock on the cemetery gate was cut.

After news of the thefts broke over the weekend, many with family members buried at the cemetery visited the site on Monday to check whether their family plaques were among those stolen.

Okanagan sisters Janene Quinn and Cherie Carey were among those dismayed to learn their family grave markers had been taken.

“My husband showed me a picture and right away I recognized that all three of my grandparents’ markers were stolen,” Quinn said.

“To lose something like that is devastating for a family because you are really opening up that wound once again and reliving that grief.”

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Families will now have to replace the markers at their own expense and are wondering how they will replicate the original tributes.

For example, Carey said her grandmother’s grave was designed by another family member who has also since passed away.

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West Kelowna, which operates the graveyard, is now planning to step up security, an added expense on the city budget

The city said they will be upgrading the lock on the gate, which the perpetrator appears to have cut to get in, and bringing in private security to do an evening patrol.

It is also now looking at installing video camera surveillance at the site.

It’s not the first time this type of crime has happened in the region this year.

In July, four large bronze plaques, believed to be worth several thousand dollars, were stolen from a Kelowna cemetery.

In this latest case, the city waved its installation fee for replacement grave markers. However, it’s little comfort for those who have lost family plaques.

“We chose our words very carefully. We loved these people. We feel very violated that somebody would come and do this and desecrate the dead,” Quinn said.

The sisters are now looking at replacing their grandparents’ gravestones with granite or marble and hoping that it will better withstand the test of time.