Wreaths being chained to graves to foil festive raids
RELATIVES are being told to chain wreaths to gravestones – to stop thieves stealing them and selling them as Christmas decorations.
The advice comes after more than 130 wreaths were pinched from a village cemetery over the past two years.
It is believed the crooks sell them at markets or by the side of the road for people to hang on their front doors.
Mourners are being urged to secure tributes to bricks or to the graves using padlocks or cable ties at the cemetery in Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire.
Residents of the riverside village are also urged to mark their flowers with ultraviolet pens, to help police track them. Inspector David Malin said: “Last year the majority of wreaths were stolen from Bidford but they also went in Alcester and Henley.
“The advice to tie wreaths to bricks or bits of wood with cable ties is effective – if you were going to a cemetery in the middle of the night to steal them you would want to pick them up as quickly as possible, you wouldn’t want to mess around with untying them from things.”
Parish council clerk Elisabeth Uggerloese said: “We have also put up a gate in the last year which is locked at 4.30pm, meaning that if criminals target the cemetery again they would have to park outside it on the roadside where they are easily visible.
“We are also advising residents not to put their wreaths out until the weekend of December 23 and 24.
“In the past two years they have used a car. By having the gate, we limit where they can park.”