MANCHESTER – A man charged with stealing 500 bronze grave markers has been arrested.
Jackson Township Police arrested John H. White, after tips called in said he was staying at a West Veterans Highway address. He was transported to the Manchester Township Police Department, where he was processed and taken to Ocean County Jail.
White is charged with theft, desecration of venerated objects, and criminal mischief.
Workers from Whiting Memorial Park reported more than 700 bronze grave vases missing Feb. 14. Their value was an estimated $175,000.
An investigation lead Manchester Township Police to two local scrap yards, those locations not released to the public. White had sold nearly 3,000 pounds—the equivalent of 494 vases—to those two yards.
Police recovered 450 vases.
