"Thieves stole more than $3,000 worth of tools and equipment, some of which was personal equipment owned by employees, from the Calvary Cemetery between Thursday evening and Friday morning, according to the manager.
The suspects cut the lock on a garage at the Catholic Church-funded cemetery on Hillcrest Road and most likely put the equipment in a truck or van, said Lori Johnson, cemetery manager.
“It’s the church for God’s sake,” Johnson said. “It was definitely someone who knew what they were looking for. They took everything of value.”
The cemetery gates are locked every evening at 6:30pm and opened every morning at 6:30am so families can visit their loved ones before and after work, Johnson said.
Because of the burglary, the cemetery will have to take more precautions which could make it more difficult for some visitors, she said.
“Cemeteries are for the living… and now everything will have to change,” she said. “It’s the community that lost.”
Calvary and IOOF Cemetery are the only two cemeteries in Hollister.
Johnson said there’s no way either of her two employees were involved in the burglary, and asked the community for help in identifying the culprits.
“We’d like for our families to keep an eye out, ask questions, and if they know who did it, tell,” she said. “We worked so hard for three years to improve the cemetery and we finally have, and this sets us back so far.”
The items stolen were a large, red air compressor on wheels, an electric drill, a gas-powered backpack blower, a McCullough chain saw, a lawn mower and circular saw." (
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