Hundreds of bronze gravesite vases were stolen from cemeteries in Burnaby, British Columbia; police said some vases cost over $1,000 each

Bronze gravesite vase thefts in Burnaby, British Columbia, prompted a police investigation after several hundred of the memorial fixtures were believed to have been taken from local cemeteries over a period of months. The vases sat directly on grave markers, giving grieving visitors somewhere to leave flowers for those they had lost. Officers said the combined loss could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Burnaby detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced the inquiry on 28 October 2026 and created a dedicated tip line so the public could pass information directly to investigators handling the series of thefts.The exact number of stolen vases remained unknown throughout According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police news release, the thefts were typically discovered only when loved ones visited a gravesite. Because of that, the exact number of stolen items was unknown, and the figures police gave were estimates rather than a confirmed count.Photographs released with the announcement showed the aftermath, empty holes on grave markers where vases once sat, some beside neighbouring markers that still carried their bronze vases and flowers.Police said the cost of the thefts went beyond moneySome of the stolen vases had a monetary value exceeding $1,000, which helped explain how the overall loss could reach such a high figure. Police stressed, however, that the financial cost was not the real measure of the harm.Corporal Mike Kalanj of the Burnaby detachment said, “The monetary value, while high, pales in comparison to the sentimental value these items hold for grieving families.”Kalanj described the thefts in blunt terms. “Stealing from a final resting place is a disgusting act that causes significant emotional distress to those already dealing with loss,” he said. He added, saying, “We are committed to identifying those responsible.”You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.