Tombstone robbing reprehensible
Published 8:43 am Wednesday, April 29, 2009
To the Editor:
Amazing. That was my response after reading news reports about a guy who stole tombstones. It matters not that the tombstones were placed in the 1800s, or that there are probably no descendants in the area who care for the grave sites.
The fact that someone can go onto another’s property, take what isn’t theirs, then hide the tombstones is reprehensible enough. But, the Commonwealth won’t enforce the law.
Does that mean that if a man shoplifts in a store, is later found with the item and admits to it, he can walk free? Seems to me, defacing a grave is just as serious, if not more so. Yet, in Isle of Wight, he was deemed not to “mean any harm” in doing what he did.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Wayne Farmer promised to fight crime. But when he finds criminals, he lets them go.
Amazing.
Dave Lyons
Smithfield