$20K bronze statue stolen from Mesa's Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery

MESA, Ariz. - A large bronze statue, memorializing a mother, worth $20,000 was stolen from Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery in Mesa.

Police tried to investigate who took it, but have hit only dead ends. Now, cemetery management is asking the community for help.

A four-foot, heavy bronze statue was ripped from its base under the cover of night, and taken through the locked gates of the cemetery. Employees don’t understand how someone could do this, or even why they'd want to.

Regardless, they want it back.

For nearly 10 years, the bronze statue of Constance Wayland would sparkle under the sun, catching the eye of every passerby and visitor at Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery.

"It's majestic. It was one of the most iconic pieces in the cemetery," said Elisa Karcilek, president of Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery.

When Constance Wayland passed away in 2012, her husband worked with the cemetery to commission the work of art. It was cast in Italy, costing $20,000.

"It wasn’t just a statue. It was a statue of this woman. It was her face, her features, her hair. The family brought in photographs, and we were able to create a three-dimensional mold that was then cast of her. This is one of a kind," Karcilek said.

Their son, Lance Wayland, chose to place her statue on top of her grave in the family plot in 2016. There it stood, until Monday, Sept. 17, when the gates locked that night.

By that morning, Constance had vanished.

"I was dumbfounded. I was surprised. I was … how could somebody do that? I was trying to figure out how it was done," Lance said.

The statue is heavy, standing four feet tall, on top of a large granite base. It was bolted down by steel pins, screwed into the statue, and drilled down into the base.

It was covered in heavy caulk, along with a metal bracket that held it for stability.

"If you look, you can see, they literally just ripped it right off of its base," Karcilek said.

The cemetery’s vice president assumes the theft involved more than one person who had to drive a truck into the cemetery before the gates lock at dark. Once inside, they could get out by triggering a censor.

They wanted it, most likely, because the bronze statue was made of 90% copper, which makes it extremely valuable.

"It just kind of makes me wonder, what’s going on in the world around us today? Like, what is happening, that people are turning to not just theft, which is horrible on its own, but feel the need to steal from the dead?" Karcilek said.

Not just at Mountain View, but cemeteries around the Valley. Karcilek says reports of bronze vases being stolen have skyrocketed in the last few months.

The thievery is forcing management to install cameras and beef up security.

"It’s upsetting, and it was our family’s," Lance said. "It’s a desecration when you get down to it."

Mountain View Cemetery has filed a police report, and they say Mesa Police have reached out to nearly 60 recycling yards, but no one has heard anything.

They’re hoping someone, somewhere will see something and say something.

You can submit a tip to the Mesa Police Department by clicking here.