Raleigh County sheriff’s deputies say they are handling one of their “worst” metal theft cases to date after they recovered nearly $90,000 in bronze vases stolen from a local cemetery’s headstones.

Deputy R.R. White said Melissa Morton, 41, of Midway, was arrested and charged with transfer and receiving of stolen property and conspiracy to commit a felony Thursday. Morton has been released on bond. However, several other arrests in this case are pending.

Around noon Wednesday, the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department was called to Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens in Prosperity, White said.

Cemetery caretakers said they had noticed some bronze vases missing from headstones over the past two weeks — then found out approximately 300 had been stolen. No headstones had been damaged during the thefts.

After checking with local metal recycling centers, White said 231 vases were found at Mountaineer Converter and Recycling on South Eisenhower Drive in Beckley. A Blue Ridge representative identified the vases, noting at least one had a deceased person’s nameplate on it.

Information gathered at the recycling center led deputies to Morton, White said. So far, deputies believe she only tried to recycle the stolen vases and that someone else stole them. He noted the investigation is far from complete, though.

Several people had apparently brought the vases in, but the recycling center had yet to ship them off before deputies found them, White said. They were turned back over to Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens employees, who were hauling them back to the cemetery Thursday. They were to be re-attached to headstones.

Others remain missing, but White said he and assisting Deputy G.D. Epling are working to recover them.

White noted families must pay $375 to have these vases attached — making the value of the recovered vases alone about $86,000. He noted that one stolen vase, though, weighs about 4 to 7 pounds. Because recycled bronze fetches $1.37 a pound, a person cashing in a stolen vase would get roughly $9.59, at most.

“The families have had to pay for (new) vases to put them back on there,” he said. “Some of these looked brand new.

“...Several people have been coming into the office and checking to see if their (loved ones’ vases) had been stolen.”

White said Raleigh County’s rash of metal thefts has not stopped, with people stealing copper, catalytic converters, utility cables — even large steel beams — in an attempt to get quick cash. Police have cited the rising price of metal and profits from recycling it as a contributing factor.

But with these thefts, White believes metal thefts have reached a new low.

“This is one of the worst we’ve dealt with or investigated,” he said. “This beats them all. People were stealing vases off graves. This is not good.

“...It’s out of control. This takes the cake. ... It’s just for the money. Easy money.”

White said sheriff’s deputies have been ordered to patrol all county cemeteries.

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com