State Police Investigate Bronze Veteran Plaques Stolen From Verona Cemetery
Two bronze veteran plaques were torn from headstones at Verona Cemetery, a theft State Police say struck both property and the memory of local military service.
New York State Police are investigating after two bronze veteran plaques were forcibly removed from headstones and stolen from Verona Cemetery, 5655 East Main Street in the Town of Verona. Troopers said the plaques were taken from a burial ground that honors military service as much as it marks graves, turning a property crime into a violation of community memory.
Verona Cemetery is an active cemetery on Main Street with burials dating to the early 1800s, and it is maintained by the Verona Cemetery Association. That long record gives the theft added weight in a county where veterans’ markers are often treated as permanent reminders of sacrifice, family history and local identity.
State Police are asking anyone who saw suspicious activity in or around the cemetery to contact SP Oneida at (315) 366-6000. Investigators also warned the public to report bronze veteran plaques if they surface for sale online, at scrap yards or through other secondhand channels, a sign the plaques may be moved quickly through resale markets before they can be traced.
The theft fits a broader pattern that has surfaced in Central New York. On Sept. 5, 2024, New York State Police in Canandaigua reported the theft of about 40 U.S. Veteran brass grave markers from St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Victor. That case showed how military memorials can be targeted not for their meaning, but for the scrap value of bronze and brass.
New York law treats cemetery theft seriously. Under Penal Law § 145.23, cemetery desecration in the first degree is a class E felony when stolen personal property from a cemetery is worth more than $250. In practical terms, that means a small piece of metal can carry a felony charge when it is ripped from a gravesite.
For families whose military markers are stolen or vandalized, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says government-furnished headstones and markers may be replaced at government expense. State Police said the investigation remains active as they work to identify who removed the plaques and where they may have been taken.
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