Rewards offered for Carson and Compton cemetery vandals
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors renewed a pair of reward offers Wednesday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for vandalizing two cemeteries in Compton and Carson, stealing bronze plaques and memorial markers.
On Jan. 6, vandals targeted Woodlawn Celestial Gardens cemetery in Compton, “one of the oldest operating cemeteries in Los Angeles County,” dating back to the 1880s, according to a motion by Supervisor Holly Mitchell requesting the reward.
“The cemetery includes numerous prominent figures and many local military veterans going as far back as the Civil War and the Spanish-American War,” the motion reads. “The property owner estimates the financial loss to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
On Jan. 12, Lincoln Memorial Park in Carson was hit by vandals who ripped bronze markers and plaques from headstones and walls of a mausoleum. According to Mitchell, damage from that heist was estimated to be more than $2 million.
“A prominent bronze statue of President Abraham Lincoln that was dedicated in 1934 was damaged in an attempt to remove a plaque from the facade of the statue,” according to Mitchell’s motion. “Additionally, a large bronze plaque that was gifted and dedicated to the cemetery in 1949 by former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Louis to commemorate and honor local veterans who died in combat had also been removed and stolen.”
A reward of $20,000 was offered for information regarding vandalism at Woodlawn Celestial Gardens. The reward for information on vandals at the Lincoln Memorial Park was increased to $25,000 on Wednesday.
The rewards were initially offered by the board in February and re-established in August but had since expired.
No suspects have been identified in either crime.
Anyone with information on the vandalism was urged to call Lt. Vincent Ursini of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at 562-946-7008 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.