SURREY, B.C. -- Police are looking for suspects who stole about 175 ornamental flower vases from a cemetery in Surrey, B.C.

The RCMP say a mother who was visiting her son's grave on April 26 noticed the bronze vase at his gravesite had been stolen.

Staff at the Valley View Funeral Home and Cemetery then contacted police to report that other ornamental flower pots had also been taken.

Police suspect the vases were stolen by metal thieves to sell as scrap.

Police are asking anyone who might have seen the vases to contact them.

Justin Schultz, the funeral home's manager, says the cemetery has taken steps to increase safety for people visiting the grounds and appealed to those who took the vases to return them.

Cpl. Scotty Schumann says the vases are distinctive.

"It's hard to imagine someone stooping this low for personal gain," he said in a news release.