Man caught on camera stealing from graves at St. Stephens Cemetery

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A thief targeted dozens of graves at a local cemetery on South Preston Street -- and it was all caught on camera.

Cemetery volunteers say the man was driving and walking all around the cemetery for two hours Saturday evening.

"You know of all the places in the world -- you can steal from me, I'll get mad -- but how do you take from someone's deceased loved one?" asked Susan Settles, who runs St. Stephens Cemetery as a volunteer.

The man was caught on camera from multiple angles at the cemetery over the weekend. In many of the shots, his arms are full with flowers and at one point, he gets a bag to fill up with even more items.

"Yeah, he did well," Settles said.

She says the man stole mostly red and white flowers, angel and butterfly trinkets, solar lights, shepherd's hooks with bird feeders and even a grave vase that he had to unscrew. She says he took everything and anything and the strange thing is the items aren't expensive.

"What’s he gonna get out of it? A dollar? Really? Bring it back. I'll give you a dollar," Settles said.

But the sentiment of the items is priceless. She says a young mother told her it's the only way she's able to express her love to her deceased daughter.

"That's the only thing I have left that I can do for her. I'll never take her to her school dances, see her grow up and go to prom, I'll never be able to be the bride's mother, she said this is all I can do for her, and that's heartbreaking," Settles recalled of the conversation.

As the voice for the cemetery families, Settles hopes this man faces the consequences of his actions.

"I mean, this is as low as you get," Settles said. "He needs to pay for this. People need to know, if nothing else, a lesson for him to learn to respect the deceased."

Cemetery volunteers say they've seen crime here in the past, but nothing like this.

If you recognize the man you're asked to call police at (502) 574-LMPD.

If your loved one had items stolen from their grave, you can call St. Stephen's Cemetery at 502-634-0890.