Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park recorded its fifth mausoleum theft of 2026 on Oct. 12. The incident adds to a string of crimes that prompted restricted visiting hours and a petition with more than 1,000 signatures from families.

A woman reported to Forest Park police that a copper vase and a cameo image of her son were stolen from his community mausoleum crypt, according to the Forest Park Review. Her son was killed in Chicago in 2024 and is buried at the cemetery. The cemetery's director told police the stolen items are personal property not covered by the cemetery but through a homeowner's insurance policy.

The pattern began July 6, when Forest Park police received the first report of stolen mausoleum doors. A July 19 police report documented another pair of solid bronze doors and bronze window bars missing from a Forest Park-area cemetery.

Each door weighed between 150 and 200 pounds and would cost around $30,000 to replace, according to that report. Additional reports on Aug. 6 and Aug. 8 valued individual stolen doors at more than $1,000 and $7,000, respectively, the Forest Park Review reported.

On Aug. 18, Forest Park police arrested John Kozeluh, 49, and Lana Grey, 38, both of Westchester, after collaborating with police in Westchester, LaGrange, Hillside and Justice, the Forest Park Review reported. Kozeluh was charged with two counts of violating the Cemetery Protection Act, two counts of theft and two counts of criminal damage to property. Grey was charged with one count of violating the Cemetery Protection Act.

In Illinois, willfully and knowingly removing a memorial or monument commemorating the deceased is a Class 2 felony. It carries three to seven years in prison and fines up to $25,000.

Forest Park Police Chief Kenneth Gross told the Review in July that stealing mausoleum doors was not a common crime but had happened over the years, typically for scrap metal. Ben Stickle, a criminal justice professor at Middle Tennessee State University who studies metal theft, told the Review that rising copper prices are a factor. Copper was trading at about $6.50 per pound, he said, making brass and bronze fixtures attractive targets.

In response to the thefts, Forest Home Cemetery cut visiting hours to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cemetery had previously allowed visits from dawn to dusk. Dan Fitts, the cemetery's executive director, told the Forest Park Review the change followed multiple incidents of theft and vandalism.

The restricted hours drew a backlash. Jennifer Figueroa, who bought a crypt for her husband in May, started a Change.org petition on Aug. 20. The petition asks the cemetery to extend hours to at least 7 p.m. or offer controlled access for plot owners. It had 630 signatures as of Sept. 4 and has since grown to 1,020.

Figueroa told the Forest Park Review in September that she and her 11-year-old daughter were told around 3:50 p.m. during an August visit that the cemetery gates were closing, with no prior notice the hours had changed. "It was difficult to understand how families could be expected to fit mourning and remembrance into what felt like office hours," she said at the time.

Fitts told the Review that individual after-hours access "is not operationally feasible."

No public hearing or village board discussion of the cemetery's hours has been announced.