Three people were arrested Tuesday in thefts of bronze plaques in the Harbor Area and other locations in Los Angeles.
The arrests were made during a traffic stop in southwest Los Angeles. Details about the arrests were not immediately available.
Plaques at the Port of Los Angeles were stolen from the American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial, the International Warehouse and Longshore Union "Bloody Thursday" Memorial along Harbor Boulevard in San Pedro, and the Japanese Fishing Village Memorial on Terminal Island, according to the Los Angeles Port Police.
They also had stolen bronze cemetery markers with them when they were arrested, authorities said. Some of the memorial plaques dated back more than a century, authorities said.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
"The heartless theft of these plaques was an insult to the memories of families who built this region through the fishing industry, who moved goods as part of the ILWU, and who protected our country during the war as merchant marine sailors," Councilman Tim McOsker said in a statement. "It was an affront to our entire community, and today, the Harbor area and the great people who shaped our history and culture are on the path of justice."
Anyone with information regarding the thefts was urged to call Los Angeles Port Police detectives at 310-732-3500.
