Theft operations in Lebanon are now commonplace. But who would ever think about stealing the iron doors of cemeteries?

As Lebanon hurtles towards outright financial meltdown amid a severe devaluation of the pound currency, more than half of the population is now poor and lacks the most basic means of survival.

So the ones who have nothing to eat would definitely steal any valuable items, like iron, in order to sell them and feed their families as the prices of commodities and foodstuffs have skyrocketed amid joblessness and political stalemate.

On Easter day, people in the town of Rayak Al-Fawqa in central Bekaa woke up to find that their local cemetery had been looted. Tens of iron doors to above-ground mausoleum crypts of the cemetery were stolen overnight.

اوقفت مديرية أمن الدولة في البقاع منذ بعض الوقت احد المشتبه بهم في قضية سرقة الابواب الحديدية لمدافن رعية رياق الفوقا. ويجري التحقيق معه لمعرفة باقي أفراد العصابة ومكان المسروقات. pic.twitter.com/7MLGtguFob

— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) April 4, 2021

According to the National News Agency, authorities managed to detain one suspect in connection to the theft and are investigating to find out about the gang which looted the cemetery and the whereabouts of the stolen doors.

Not long ago, the country witnessed a spike in the theft of manhole covers, which are made of valuable cast iron.

Steel mesh corners of transmission towers are also being targeted by thieves, causing one of these towers to collapse in the northern Lebanese locality of Deir Nbouh last Monday.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Electricité du Liban (EDL) said the tower had fallen due to the theft of the steel mesh corners supporting it. The incident disrupted the main Deir Nbouh – Baalbek transmission line (220 kV).

The fall was facilitated by the high wind velocity, and it led to cutting the transmission and communication lines between the Deir Ammar plant and the Baalbek station.