Man accused of stealing cemetery vases for money

RENO (AP) - A Nevada man has been charged with stealing bronze vases from a cemetery and pawning them to a recycling center for money.

A Reno newspaper reports 35-year-old Brett Allen has been charged with burglary and possession of stolen property in the July theft of more than 150 vases from Our Mother of Sorrows Cemetery in Reno.

Investigators say the recycling center called police to alert them they had purchased three vases from the suspect for $25 after learning of the cemetery thefts.

Cemetery operations manager Sophia Mitchell says the vases held flowers for the deceased, and most of the few vases that police were able to return to the cemetery were damaged.

The price of copper - the main component of bronze - is at a near record.