RI Woman Says Christmas Decorations Stolen From Seekonk Cemetery

SEEKONK, MA — Seekonk Cemetery is apparently the latest in southern Massachusetts to experience the theft of holiday remembrance items left at a grave site. About a week after Mansfield police said items were reported taken from two gravesites in that town, an East Providence, R.I. woman said personalized ornaments and a tree were taken from her brother's grave in Seekonk.

Chris Partington told WPRI-TV that a tree containing ornaments was taken from the grave site of her brother, David, who died of cancer 31 years ago. She said the ornaments were part of a promise she made to him to keep him in the family's thoughts each Christmas after his death.

Partington told the station that wreaths and patriotic grave markers were also taken or disrupted are other nearby grave sites in the cemetery, including her father's. She said her hope is that the tree and the ornaments will be returned anonymously, and said that there will be no questions asked by the family if that is done anonymously.