Two men are behind bars, accused of raiding cemeteries and stealing dozens of memorial plaques from gravestones to sell off for scrap metal.
The pair used grinders to detach the plaques from the graves and remove the names before they were sold on to second-hand metal dealers, police said.
The men were arrested after police recovered 25 brass name plaques on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
Police say 16 plaques were stolen from a cemetery at Beerwah on November 1, with the other nine taken from Peachester gravestones days later.
Two men - aged 38 and 45 - were charged after police found three grinders at a Peachester residence.
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Mansfield said most of the families affected by the thefts had been informed thanks to help from the Sunshine Coast Council.
It had been "distressing" for the families and was expected to cost more than $1000 to replace the stolen plaques, he said.
There is a large and lucrative market for second-hand metals and police suspect other cemeteries outside the Sunshine Coast may have been targeted.
Det Mansfield urged the public to report any missing gravestone plaques.
The two men have been charged with possessing tainted property, entering premises and committing an indictable offence, dishonestly obtaining property and fraud.
They have been remanded in custody and are expected to appear at Maroochydore Magistrates Court on December 14.
