The Returned and Services Association (RSA) is denouncing the thieves who stole brass plaques from the graves of soldiers in Dargaville this week.
Police said three plaques had been prised off granite headstones in the Dargaville RSA cemetery - probably to sell the brass as scrap metal.
The RSA said the thefts would be upsetting for families - and the people responsible have stooped to a new low.