Man charged with stealing bronze vases from cemetery

RENO -- A Nevada man has been charged with stealing bronze vases from a cemetery and pawning them to a recycling center for money.

Brett Allen, 35, has been charged with burglary and possession of stolen property in the July theft of more than 150 vases from Our Mother of Sorrows Cemetery in Reno, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Investigators said the recycling center called police to alert them they had purchased three vases from the suspect for $25 after learning of the cemetery thefts.

Cemetery operations manager Sophia Mitchell said the vases held flowers for the deceased, and most of the few vases that police were able to return to the cemetery were damaged.

The price of copper -- the main component of bronze -- is at a near record.