SCARBOROUGH — A marker that honors a soldier’s service in a pre-Revolutionary War battle has apparently been stolen from Black Point Cemetery.

Scarborough Police Chief Robbie Moulton on Monday said no suspects have been identified in connection with the theft from the gravesite of John Fogg, and the department is seeking help from the public. 

The chief admitted that unless someone has additional information or finds the marker, the case will be a difficult one to solve. He urged anyone with information to call the anonymous crime tip line at 730-GETM (4386).

A person visiting the gravesites of relatives on Memorial Day noticed the marker at the grave was missing and contacted cemetery trustee Robert Hall. Hall checked with other trustees to see if the marker had been removed for cleaning, and determined it had been stolen.

The cross-shaped marker is patterned after the Louisbourg trophy of the 1745 capture of the French fortress in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, according to findagrave.com.

Hall said the grave is about 100 feet from Black Point Road, and the bronze or brass marker is about 3 feet tall. Hall said he is unsure why a person would take the marker, because it is of little material value.

Fogg was born in 1729 and died in October 1778, at age 49. Fogg’s wife, Hannah Libby Fogg, also buried nearby. 

Hall said he hopes the person responsible for taking the marker may decide to bring it back and leave it on cemetery property in the middle of the night. He said it is a sad situation when someone steals from a veteran who fought for the country before it was even a country. 

According to cemetery trustees, Fogg served in 1757 in the Company of Massachusetts militia.

“He defended our country before there was a United States, in a very turbulent and dangerous time,” Hall said. “To bring this into perspective, ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ was set in 1757.”

Juliette Laaka can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or at jlaaka@theforecaster.net. Follow her on Twitter @JulietteLaaka. 

This cross-shaped marker at the Scarborough grave of pre-Revolutionary War soldier John Fogg has been missing since Memorial Day weekend.