More than 100 nameplates were stolen from the Lincoln Memorial Park in California last week. The Los Angeles Police Department says the incident happened early Friday morning. It happened right after a similar event at Woodlawn Celestial Gardens, which is close to Compton.
More than 100 bronze nameplates were stolen from the cemetery. They also took a big plaque meant to honor and remember African American veterans of WWII. It was boxer Joe Louis who gave this plaque to the museum in 1944.
“It takes a lot of force to pry this off,” community advocate Aisha Woods told City News Service as she showed a nameplate that had been bent up but not fully taken off yet. Many people visit the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery to see the big figure of Lincoln. They left tools at the scene where they tried to steal this huge figure. “They’ve tried twice to take him,” Woods said next, referring to the Lincoln figure.
Woods also said she believes they are stealing them to sell or pawn them for money. People are also putting up pieces of tape instead of these signs to remember their loved ones, which she talks about.
Aisha Woods wants the graveyard to get some kind of help to make it more peaceful for people who are going to visit their loved ones who have died. “The Lincoln Memorial is open Monday through Friday so that people can visit their loved ones.” She also said, “If this keeps up, there won’t be anywhere to visit if we don’t get some help, security, or cameras.”
Recently, they’ve tried getting the Veterans Administration to help with repairs and giving away security cams or something similar to make sure this doesn’t happen again. But attempts to make this happen have failed.
