KISSIMMEE, Fla. – An Osceola County woman said Monday someone took a priceless possession from her son's headstone.
Jodi Schaalma told News 6 that her son has been buried at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Kissimmee since a few months after he died in 2013.
Schaalma said she was notified shortly before giving birth that her baby had passed away.
And now, a teddy bear figurine has been taken from the area near the headstone.
"My daughter looked around and she said, 'Where's brother bear?' And I looked and I said, 'Oh my goodness, you are right,'" Schaalma said.
Schaalma said the family placed the bear at the grave a couple of years ago.
"It's wrong,” she said. “I mean, to take from a baby. To take from a gravesite of anybody, it's wrong. But you know, it's obvious he's a baby -- and to take from us, and take from his siblings that memory, it's just not right.”
Schaalma also said the issue isn't about money, and she admitted the bear only cost her a few coins at a local garage sale. But it's about the memories.
"They are each sentimental,” she said. “We picked them out by hand for a reason. It's definitely not about the money. It's not that we can't replace it. It's the sentimental value that that has. The memories we made with that bear. We won't stop. We just have the hopes that people will be honest. Pass by it, look at it, enjoy it as much as we enjoy doing it, but don't touch it."
The family said a solar garden light was taken from the headstone in the summer of 2014.
The city of Kissimmee, which operates Rose Hill Cemetery, told News 6 there have not been any reports of items stolen. The city also said that in its ordinance, the city is not liable for any personal property.
Kissimmee said the gates to the cemetery are locked at 7 p.m. daily.
News 6 left a voicemail and sent several emails to the Kissimmee Parks and Recreation Department. The family also said they are aware that the city isn’t responsible for the missing items.