Monee Township cemetery thief stealing copper vases arrested, police say

MONEE TOWNSHIP, Ill. (WLS) -- The Will County Sheriff's Office said they arrested a man allegedly caught stealing from a cemetery.

The sheriff's office said officers were called to Skyline Memorial Park and Crematory on Governors Highway for reports of a theft.

When they arrived, deputies said they found a man stacking 190 copper vases in a pile. When he saw the officers, he tried to hide behind some nearby bushes. When the deputies found him, police said they also found a duffle bag with 12 copper vases in it next to him.

The man told police the bag belonged to him. Will County sheriff's deputies took Peter F. Dobrzeniecki into custody.

The sheriff's office said Dobrzeniecki later told officers he had been stealing vases from the cemetery starting in January 2023, and that he had stolen 60 to 90 vases at a time on 10 separate occasions. He told police he had sold them for $15 per vase to a local business. An employee at Skyline Memorial Park estimated each vase is worth about $300.

Dobrzeniecki is charged with felony theft, violation of the Cemetery Protection Act theft, and also had two active warrants in Cook County, the sheriff's office said.