Scrap metal thieves have always been a problem around construction sites with rebar and sheet metal going missing overnight on a regular basis. But there has been a recent spate of scrap metal thieving going on that has taken a more ghoulish turn.

Cemeteries have become targets with plates being prised off headstones and runs and ornaments stolen off graves to be sold as scrap metal. With the price of some metals having quadrupled in the last few years the crime is not only becoming more prevalent, it’s virtually untraceable because once the metal is stolen, it can be beaten into an unrecognisable shape.

The thieves could be addicts looking to make money to buy drugs with the metal prices making it an easy option. But some of the crimes are pretty large operations. Take for example the thieves in Delaware who stole mausoleum gates weighing 1,000 pounds and the couple in Maryland who were caught stealing over 200 urns from the local cemetery.

Only this last weekend there was a theft reported of seven bronze urns from the Chapel of Chimes Cemetery in San Francisco, one of which contained cremated remains.

But the scrap metal thieving is going beyond the cemetary and out into the streets. Fire hydrants are also targets with reports around the country of the theft of the brass nuts from hydrants rendering them inoperable.

Heading out beyond US shores and there are some very enterprising, not to mention extremely optomistic organised crooks entering the scrap metal theft business. Take the crew in Russia who attempted to steal an eight-ton pontoon-bridge in Russia’s central Penza Region. The crew had loaded the bridge onto a truck and were heading to Penza when they were stopped by police. By the way, what will a bridge get you in Russia? Well this one was going to be sold for $340.