Stealing corpses is apparently old school. A new wave of cemetery thefts around the country, driven by the scrap value of bronze markers and flower vases, has prompted some lawmakers to stiffen penalties.

From The St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

“In March, the Madison County Sheriff’s Department arrested three people for stealing 40 vases from two Metro East cemeteries. The owner of a Granite City scrap recycling center turned them in. … The scrap value of a bronze vase is about $10, according to cemetery operators; the replacement price often tops $300.”

Similar thefts have been reported in numerous locales this month, including Kansas City, Sweet Home, Oregon, and a spree in Cook County, Illinois that affected nearly 1,500 families.

Grave-digging isn’t always about cash. In Texas, a trio apparently dug up a corpse earlier this year only to smoke pot out of the skull. And as a total aside, scientists earlier this year announced advancements in sniffing out corpses to speed up the process of finding graves.

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