[AZHalloweenScare]

Living in Gilbert I have never had a fear of someone stealing my hand built tombstones. Then last I come out to my yard missing the props I put 40 to 50 hours of work into gone. Pisses me off that people do **** like that.

 

[LadyMage]

Living in Gilbert I have never had a fear of someone stealing my hand built tombstones. Then last I come out to my yard missing the props I put 40 to 50 hours of work into gone. Pisses me off that people do **** like that.

That's horrible. It's one thing to lose something that you paid a bit of money at Walmart for, that sucks all by itself. It's quite another to lose something you sank your own blood sweat and tears into, that makes it even more of a violation. There's a special hell for people like that.

 

[AZHalloweenScare]

Yes I'm really steaming right now.

 

[Frankie's Girl]

If it was an elaborate stone that you have photos of, I'd call the non emergency number for your local police and let them know you'd like to file a police report. A stone similar to what Terra does could be considered pretty expensive and you should report its theft.

ETA: Oh just saw the pic... I remember you working on that stone I think... that is tragic! You definitely should report it because that stone is worth at least $200 just for the work you put into it. You can say that you've been offered that much for it as far as assessing the worth of the object stolen! (because that is what I'd expect to pay for a stone like that and it would be a bargain!)

Also post a sign asking for its return - no questions asked. Talk to your neighbors - because chances are, one of them (or a friend of theirs) took it unless you live on a very busy street.

And drive around your neighborhood too - there is a chance that the thief is dumb enough to put the stolen prop in their own yard; so you can prove its yours, you need to have the police report and then you can go get your prop back if sighted. (take a pic of the stone in their yard with address or other identifiable features of the property and report it ).

So very sorry this happened to you. I never put out anything truly valuable or elaborate props until the day of as I am so worried about this kind of thing happening.

 

[jenrens]

That is just horrible. I'm so sorry.

The fact that it is your creation can be an advantage as the other posters have mentioned, it wouldn't be difficult to spot in the neighborhood
Also, you could create a search on Ebay to receive email notifications using keywords sort it by distance nearest to your zip code. Just in case they are stealing props to sell - you never know. People can be absolute scum.

Happy Halloween to you - and I hope you get your prop back!

 

[ice456789]

Terrible. That is a work of art with a value in the hundreds of dollars. Don't let them tell you that foam tombstones are only worth the initial investment of materials. That's like saying a Picasso is only worth the price of the paint and canvas.

 

[TheHalloweenGuru]

Eff da thiefs comin' straight from the underground
Young haunter got bad cause.... I'm a pumpkin?
And not the other holiday so the thiefs think
They have the authority to steal a tombstone
Eff that crap, cause I ain't the one
A punk thief with a bag and a tomb
To steal, then hopefully go to jail
We can go toe to toes in a middle of...idk
Messin' with me cause i'm a haunter
With a little bit of foam and a tombstone
Searchin' my yard, lookin' props
Think every haunter has something valuable

Seriously though, i'm so sorry this happend! I hope someone finds the douche who did this, best of luck

 

[djm902]

Such a beautiful tombstone, to have it stolen would really put a damper on the day. Try rise above it though and not let it ruin your season.

 

[spinachetr]

Sorry for your loss, that was a beautiful stone. Knock on wood, I've never had anything stolen (just 1 stone trashed by some punks). I made a branding iron with my name and address that I've branded into the back of all of my stones. http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-and-step-by-step/90662-brand-your-props-anti-theft-easy-id-recovery.html. That and I took pictures of both the front and back (showing where the brand is, in case it is cut out) off all of my stones. I also have 5 (overkill?) security cameras on the front of my house covering all of the front yard.

 

[internet troll]

Agreed, f anybody who thinks they deserve what you worked hard on or paid for more than you.

 

[Skelly215]

Oh, what beautiful work. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I think Frankie's Girl had some great tips on ways to maybe get it back. But even if you do, that doesn't remove the hurt and violation. People suck sometimes.

 

[Bruzilla]

Sorry for the loss, but don't you think a prop that you put 40-50 hours worth of work into is worth a $10 motion alarm? Maybe this theft will get you into a more defensive mindset and you'll start buying one or two alarms a month. That way you'll have a dozen or two by next October. That's what I do. Every major prop I put out has one or two alarms in it. Never had a prop stolen (knock on wood), and have never had an alarm go off, but we're ready if a thief does make a try.

 

[LadyGoats]

Siiiiigh. What're your cross streets? I'm at Ray & Cooper. We could expand the search if you're nearby and cover a lot more ground.

I'm fortunate that nothing's been taken from me, yet (*knock on wood*), which makes it hard not to get comfortable.

 

[lizzyborden]

That really sucks! You never had a fear of theft before, now that fear may subside but will never go away.

I sincerely hope you find it and the jerks who took it. It's also really awesome that LadyGoats is in the same area and has offered to help with the hunt.

 

[Sinister Sid]

That sucks. Sorry to hear about your loss. I have always worried about something like this happening to my props. I put up a fake security camera that I bought at harbor freight for $10. I put the camera up while a lot of kids were outside playing. Of course they asked me what I was doing and I told them that I was putting up the camera in case anyone tried to mess with my stuff. The word got around that I have a security camera. I have had several adults reference my camera asking if I captured other activities that happened through out the year. I leave the camera up year round. Nobody knows it's fake. I also enlist the help of all the kids in the neighborhood to help keep an eye on my props. They all come down and want to help me set up the display every year. So I let them help and I let them play in the grave yard while I'm outside working on props. They get invested in the display because they get to help and they take pride in it like it is theirs. I ask them where to put things and just get them involved. I did have some props damaged last year the day after Halloween. I'm not sure if the wind blew them over and damaged them or if someone intentionally damaged them? The props damaged were very large and heavy. A huge 6 ft tall and 6 ft wide styrofoam pumpkin and my cemetery columns were pushed over. The pumpkin weighs about 100 lbs or more and the columns are pretty heavy as well. Fortunately I was able to repair all the damage. This year I bought a Samsung 4 camera security system from Sam's club for $299. I haven't installed it yet (actually just bought it two days ago). I think installing it today might be a good idea.

 

[wackychimp]

Grrr....

This is the one thing that keeps me from putting out all of my decorations until Halloween night. My neighbor is a "Christmas light nerd" (music synched show, etc.) and this year is putting out a few WiFi cams for this reason. I hate that it has to come to this.

That's such a beautiful tombstone too!

 

[Witchywoo]

This is also why I wait until Halloween day to put my stuff up. I even take it all down after the kids wrap it up.
Are you on facebook? I know in my area we have neighborhood/town pages. You can explain the problem, post a picture, and ask people to share.

People do this regularly for stolen bikes/lost and found pets, etc.

 

[Bruzilla]

I think installing it today might be a good idea.

The only way a four camera system is useful is to put two at either front corner of your yard, one pointing up the street and the other pointing down. If you can't get the license plate of whoever drives up to get your stuff, a video system is useless. Worse, more than likely whoever steals your stuff is just doing it on a whim, and they will probably just bust it up and throw it out the same night.

The only effective means to deal with thieves and vandals are alarms. They may not catch the bad guys but they sure limit the amount of damage they can inflict.

 

[AZHalloweenScare]

Yes it has put a severe damper on decorating outside this year. I almost want to set up the cemetery in the back yard with the tombstones that I still have.

 

[DeppMaster]

Spinachetr, What kind of cameras are you using? You said you have 5! I'd love to use cameras so I could catch any thieves! I just can't spend hundreds of dollars!