Nearly two dozen headstones have been damaged or stolen by vandals who struck a cemetery in Compton recently.
Video taken Friday by Aisha Woods and shared with KTLA shows empty spaces and rubble where the headstones, some made with copper or bronze, were once placed at Woodlawn Celestial Gardens cemetery on West Greenleaf Boulevard.
Woods estimates roughly 23 headstones were taken, although the exact number is not yet known.
She believes some of the headstones were replaced in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.
“Some of them may be irreplaceable,” Woods said. “A lot of the families don’t exist anymore because they either died out or moved away.”
Five plaques, which held 150 nameplates, were also ripped off of a cemetery wall.
The value of the stolen property could be more than $100,000, prompting speculation the thieves planned to sell the bronze and copper.
The owner of the cemetery has been in contact with police and plans to check pawn shops and recycling centers in case the thieves go there.
No description of a suspect, or suspects, was available.
