Two Eastern Cape men have been arrested for allegedly stealing tombstones, reconstructing them and then selling them to unsuspecting buyers.
Police spokesperson, Captain Ursula Roelofse, said the relatives, aged 31 and 47, were arrested this week by members of a multi-disciplinary team investigating a pattern of tombstone thefts in the Macacuma Locality near Sterkspruit.
She said parts of the used tombstone slabs were recovered from a house in the locality.
“A recent transaction was also confirmed with a new buyer who purchased two tombstones and had them installed at an old grave and a new grave”, where the burial was scheduled for Saturday, 8 June.
“Both the tombstones with installation costs were worth R8000,” Roelofse said.
She said a cell phone was also “confiscated for the download of conversations about sales of tombstones and pictures of tombstones installed.”
The two men will appear in court on Monday.
