FORTVILLE, Ind.– Officials say several plaques honoring fallen service members were stolen from a cemetery in Fortville.
Arnett Cemetery is one of seven cemeteries maintained by Fall Creek Township, and dates back to the 1800s. An Eagle Scout named Zach Hugel used his service project to build an area to mount plaques honoring the branches of the military and members who have died while serving.
“I have a huge line of military in my family history. My great-great-granddad was in World War One. Both of my granddads were in World War Two. My dad served in Vietnam,” Zach said.
He says he and his dad pulled up last week to clean the plaques when they noticed they were gone.
“I was sad. I was disappointed after all the hard work and building what I thought was going to be a very touching memorial only to find out someone had desecrated it by stealing the plaques. I was very disappointed,” Zach said.
The cemetery is located at North 113th Street and Florida Road.
The township’s trustee’s office isn’t sure when exactly they went missing.
“Our hope is that somebody took these and they’ll realize their mistake and a parent or somebody will see them and return them to the township so we can display them again,” Trustee Doug Allman said.
Anyone with information about the plaques are asked to call the trustee’s office at 317-841-3180.
Missing! 5 plaques that honor our fallen service members at the Arnett Cemetery are missing. If you have any information, or have see the plaques, contact our office at 317-841-3180 or info@fallcreektownshipoffice.com. #arnettcemetery #helpfindtheplaques #fallcreektwp pic.twitter.com/19Lts8UqpG
— Fall Creek Twp (@FallCreekTwp) July 12, 2018