ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — A northwest Missouri city is filled with homes featuring amazing architecture. Unfortunately, some are being robbed of historical detail.
“This guy who has been breaking in has stolen the bronze hardware on the doors,” said Lisa Rock, who specializes in selling historic properties.
“A lot of people like to salvage metals, and so, these properties get stripped of copper, then they find out the hardware is worth something, they’ve even gone to faucets now, just a junky old faucet because it’s brass!” Rock added.
FOX 4 visited the Vineyard Mansion on Monday. It was built in 1889, and a man was arrested just last week for stealing thousands of dollars worth of artifacts.
“He has ripped out over 48 light fixtures,” said Rock, “If they spent as much work trying to get a real job as they did at demolishing these houses, they’d be quite successful in life!”
“The stripping of architectural features from some of these old boarded up homes has been a problem for some time,” said Scott DesPlanques, the historic preservation planner for the city of St. Joseph.
“A big selling point of the old homes is when they still have their fireplaces, their woodwork, all the stuff that gives it the historic charm,” he added, “Once those are removed, it’s hard to sell the property, and the property remains boarded up, and sometimes they remain boarded up until they have to be demolished.”
DesPlanques says the stolen item will only bring about 20 percent of what it costs to replace it.
“Fifty dollars worth of copper is going to end up costing the new owner $8,000 or so to rewire the property,” he said.
Rock said the historic factor of the city is what makes it so unique.
“You cannot rebuild it, no matter how hard you try, you can’t reproduce the history, and what it is,” she said, “Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Rock says to be aware of your surroundings, and if you see any wrongdoing, please contact police.
