Candles are an indispensable decoration of a grave. There are especially many of them before All Saints’ Day and that’s when thieves start roaming the cemeteries. They take the ornaments to sell them or decorate the monuments of their loved ones.
It is worth recalling that stealing a candle or a bouquet from a grave is considered a crime under Article 262. Therefore, a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment from 6 months to 8 years may be imposed. However, this does not deter thieves, who are difficult to catch because many cemeteries do not have monitoring.
Due to the fact that bouquets have soared, everyone wants to protect them against theft. Proven home methods to save grave decorations come to the rescue. Check them all and don’t fall for the thief.
The theft may occur already at the stage of cleaning the tombstone. Many people lose sight of valuable things such as bags, wallets, home keys or phones. While cleaning, they completely forget about what is happening around them.
Therefore, the police appeal for caution. A bigger problem, however, is leaving candles unattended. Then they become easy prey for thieves, but even in this situation, during our absence, this can be remedied.
The easiest way to protect candles is to mark them with a permanent marker, paint or nail polish. We can also lightly spray them with spray paint or pour wax. The same applies to bouquets. They will then become unattractive to thieves – it will be more difficult for them to sell such decorations.
As we know, thieves usually steal what is easiest to take. That’s why it’s worth making it harder for them to steal candles permanently attaching decorations to the grave, e.g. using wires or strings.
Another way is to install a surveillance camera. We can also use the camera trap option. Such a device takes a photo and sends it to the indicated telephone number. This will make it easier to identify the thief.
If we don’t want to spend money on a real camera, we can always install a dummy one. Such an element near the grave will deter thieves.
We also recommend taking candles and bouquets to the grave only on All Saints’ Day. By then it will be too late for the thieves to sell the stolen ornaments. After all, many people buy them well in advance.
