Is your countertop from a grave?

Police have asked people to be on the lookout for suspects who have violated a grave – and to be aware that granite kitchen countertops sold by unaccredited sellers may have come from a Free State graveyard.

A family from Odendaalsrus was shocked to find their loved one’s grave had been tampered with when they went to pay their respects on January 1.

Mahlomola Paulus Hantsi’s final resting place was left without a granite top‚ which covered the length of the grave.

The robbers left only the headstone intact.

The family had last visited the grave on September 15 and said it had been undamaged‚ leading them to believe the robbery was recent.

The total cost of the granite stolen was R8‚000.

Captain Stephen Thakeng said the warning to the public that suspects were on the loose was a strategy to try to prevent further grave stone robberies.

Thakeng said he could not speculate on whether other graves had been robbed because only one family had reported an incident.

He warned that community members needed to be on the lookout for people selling granite kitchen countertops because he believed this had been the intention of the theft.

“We are advising people to ensure they buy their countertops from accredited sellers‚” Thakeng said. –