Police: 400 Urns Stolen From Cemetery For Scrap

Sheriff's deputies in Houston say they are looking for seven alleged grave robbers accused of stealing about 400 brass urns from a Harris County cemetery and cashing them in as scrap metal.

Harris County officials said at a news conference Monday that the urns went missing over a weekend in early November.

A Houston ordinance requires scrap metal dealers to collect a name and address from each customer's government-issued ID, allowing detectives to issue charges against seven people who sold the urns.

Each of the seven will face a charge of second-degree felony theft, which can be punished by up to 20 years in prison.

Authorities say the urns are valued at a total of about $120,000, but that the thieves likely received less than $4,000 from the scrapyards.