This bronze angel statue, which sat at the gravesite of 8-month-old Nicholas Ferro in Peppler’s Cemetery, Allentown, was stolen in the beginning of March.
ALLENTOWN — Borough resident Stacey Ferro can’t believe her own eyes. Someone stole an angel statue that marked her 8-month-old son’s grave.
Every day she said she asks herself, "Why would anyone do such a thing?"
The answer eludes her, except that perhaps whoever stole it thought it was worth some money, but even that belies the cruelty of the act.
Ferro said she did find a necklace in its place with the word "Angel" on it, but she can’t be sure that it was left by the same person who took the statue.
Before placing the angel statue on their infant son’s grave, the parents kept it on display in their Allentown home.
"The necklace was left there nice and neatly," she said.
Her son, Nicholas, was laid to rest on July 14, 2000. On March 17, Ferro and her husband, John, visited their infant son’s grave, located in Peppler’s Cemetery on Broad Street in Allentown. They noticed that the statue was missing and thought that perhaps one of their friends had left the necklace. "I have friends who will stop by and leave nice things, but when I spoke to them, they didn’t know anything about it," she said.
Ferro said the theft must have occurred within the past three weeks because the statue was there when they visited the gravesite on Valentine’s Day.
Out of desperation, Ferro called the cemetery owner and asked if by chance he took the angel. "He said he would never do such a thing. He also said that he was there a week prior to March 17 and had seen the angel at that time," she said.
The Ferros, who live on Greenfield Drive, also contacted the Allentown Police Department. Cpl. Dan Panckeri said that no witnesses have come forward. He speculated that someone might have stolen it to make a profit by selling it, or that kids in the area could be playing around and just don’t realize how painful it is to the family.
"I would like the person who stole this angel to know that I would very much like it back. To lose a child is the worst pain you could ever possibly have to go through, and to have someone do this brings back all of the grief and the unbearable pain," Ferro said.
"Allentown is a small town. It is hard to believe that we have people that would be this evil and do something so low as to take something so personal from a graveside. It is just disgusting."
The bronze angel is about 19 inches tall, has praying hands with a wreath of green and gold pine cones, and a gold bow around the base.
The Ferros just want it back. "A reward will be given to anyone who can retrieve this most precious angel," the bereft mother said.
Anyone with information should contact Cpl. Panckeri at (609) 259-6300.