The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday renewed and increased a pair of reward offers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for vandalizing two cemeteries in Compton and Carson in 2024, stealing bronze plaques and memorial markers.
On Jan. 6, 2024, vandals targeted Woodlawn Celestial Gardens cemetery in Compton, “one of the oldest operating cemeteries in Los Angeles County,” dating back to the 1880s, according to a motion by Supervisor Holly Mitchell requesting the renewal of the reward.
“The cemetery contains the gravesites of numerous prominent figures and many local military veterans dating back to the Civil War and the Spanish-American War,” the motion states. “The property owner estimates the financial loss to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. To date, no witnesses or suspect(s) have been identified to further this investigation.”
The previous reward offer in the Woodlawn case was $20,000, but the board on Tuesday increased it to $25,000.
On Jan. 12, 2024, Lincoln Memorial Park in Carson was hit by vandals who ripped bronze markers and plaques from headstones and walls of a mausoleum. According to Mitchell, damage from that heist was estimated to be more than $2 million.
“A prominent bronze statue of President Abraham Lincoln, dedicated in 1934, was also damaged in an attempt to remove a plaque affixed to its facade,” according to Mitchell’s motion to increase the reward offer in the case from $25,000 to $30,000. “In addition, a large bronze plaque gifted to the cemetery in 1949 by former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Joe Louis, dedicated to honoring local veterans who died in combat, had also been removed and stolen.”
Both reward offers were approved unanimously by the board without discussion. The rewards were initially offered in 2024.
No suspects have been identified in either crime.
Anyone with information on the vandalism was urged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.