More cemetery vases are stolen, this time in Raytown

Metal thieves once again have looted a cemetery in the Kansas City area.

This time, someone stole about 45 bronze vases from Mount Olivet Cemetery in the 7600 block of Blue Ridge Boulevard, Raytown police reported Wednesday.

The thefts happened last week in a section of the cemetery near Assumption and Ave Marie, police said.

Police ask anyone with information to call the Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

Such thefts have happened sporadically for at least a decade in the Kansas City area, with the thieves usually selling the items as scrap metal.

In recent months, two cemeteries in Kansas City, Kan., reported thefts. Prosecutors recently charged three people in connection with those thefts.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 11:43 AM with the headline "More cemetery vases are stolen, this time in Raytown."