WELLSVILLE — Area scrap dealers are asked to be on the lookout after 13 bronze memorial plaques were stolen from veterans’ tombstones in the village.
The plaques — bearing the deceased person’s name, branch of service and other information — were taken between Sunday and Tuesday from Sacred Heart Cemetery on South Main Street in the Allegany County village, said Lt. Josh Kean of the Wellsville Police Department.
Damages were estimated at $13,000, he said. Numerous community organizations in the surrounding area have joined together to offer a reward in the case.
As of Friday, the reward was approaching $10,000.
Wellsville police have alerted scrapyards in the area, Kean said.