Looters Go Big at Civil War Battlefield in Virginia

PETERSBURG, VA — Most of the 2,700-acre Petersburg National Battlefield was open to visitors during the busy Memorial Day weekend, but a portion of the park was closed — labeled an active crime scene by the National Park Service.

Park rangers located several excavation pits in the park, where thieves were likely looking for relics on the battlefield where more than 1,000 Civil War soldiers died.

Petersburg hosted the longest siege in American history, with Union forces cutting off a Confederate supply line to nearby Richmond for more than nine months. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee eventually evacuated Petersburg in April 1865.

"This is an affront to the memory of people who fought and died on this field and it is destruction and theft of history from the American people," said battlefield superintendent Lewis Rogers. "This kind of aberrant behavior is always disgusting but it is particularly egregious as Memorial Day weekend arrives, a time when we honor the memories of our friends and family."

Park rangers are hoping the public can help in the Petersburg area, which includes neighboring Fort Lee. The vast majority of looting cases go unsolved. Looters can face a 2-year prison sentence, but most convictions are misdemeanors.

What's at stake is no less than our nation's history, Rogers argued in a statement.

"Archeological resources are a window to our nation's history," Rogers said. "Historians are still writing history based on the archeological clues left by those who have preceded us. Removing these artifacts erase any chance for us to learn from our nation's greatest tragedy."