This angel statue was stolen from the grave of Richard Wayne Green. The devastated family hopes the statue will be returned so the healing can continue.
Members of an Oliver family are beside themselves after learning about the theft of a grave statue that honoured a loved one who passed away this summer.
Richard Wayne Green, who was well known in Oliver, died in August. To honour his memory, his wife Jeannette sought out a unique statue to put on his gravestone. It was an angel, whose hands held a mourning dove. The 1.5-foot statue sat on a chrome ball.
“My mom believes in angels, so she wanted something specific,” said daughter Jodie Crawford.
Since Jeannette loves mourning doves, too, the statue was perfect for the gravestone.
“My mom is devastated … her heart is broken,” Crawford said. “Who steals from a grave . . . who does that?”
Crawford said they put the statue on the gravestone on September 24 and noticed it gone today.
The family noticed it gone when they visited the cemetery to put flowers on the site.
“She instantly burst into tears . . . she was stunned,” Crawford said of her mother, who is 74 and suffering from bone cancer.
Crawford said she noticed that the only gravestone in the cemetery that was impacted was her father’s. All of the other gravestones were left untouched.
“You never do that at a cemetery; that’s so disrespectful . . . she (Jeannette) is trying to deal with the loss of her husband.”
Crawford said they reported the theft to the RCMP.
“We just want it back . . . no questions asked.”
The family is hoping the person who took it will have a conscience and return the statue to the gravestone or to the RCMP.
By Lyonel Doherty
