Thieves have stolen at least 20 copper crucifixes from a cemetery in Kerkrade according to police, reports ANP news service on Thursday.

Local people however claim that as many as 50 copper statues have been taken. Some of the stolen items were as high as a meter and had been sawn off from graves, upset residents told ANP. ‘This is inhuman, these thieves have no respect for the dead,’ said one of them.
Last week railway network company ProRail told NRC Handelsblad that it had recorded 374 copper thefts in 2007. Copper thieves are attracted by the high copper price, which has increased by 800% in the last few years to €5 per kg, the paper said.