SAUGUS – Cemetery Superintendent John Falasca is getting some help in figuring out how to replace the more than 500 aluminum flag holders stolen Tuesday from veterans’ gravesites in Riverside Cemetery.Falasca said he is hoping a proposed fundraiser will help replace the markers stolen by at least two thieves early Tuesday morning. The long tubes designed to protect the flagsticks also have a military medallion affixed to them.Initially, Falasca thought thieves snagged 250-300 holders before a pair of town employees out for a walk spotted them. When they realized they had been seen, the thieves, estimated to be in their early 30s, fled in a white Toyota Camry.Later, Falasca estimated the loss to be closer to 500 but by Thursday, with three-quarters of the cemetery surveyed, he said the number of missing holders would reach upwards of 700.”It’s disgusting, it really is,” he said.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said he feels the town is responsible for replacing the markers, but at $20 each he is not sure how they will fund it.Falasca said he hopes the cost can be defrayed with a fundraiser jointly launched by the Cemetery Commission, the Veterans Council and Selectman Stephen Castinetti.Veterans Council President Doug Cooper said the group is still working out the details, but they are accepting checks immediately.”If people want to send a check they can send it to Riverside Cemetery in care of flag holders,” Falasca said. “It will be put in a segregated account.”Bisignani said people could also send or drop off checks at his office in Town Hall on Central Street as well.Falasca said the group’s goal is to have all the markers replaced by Memorial Day 2009.Cooper said he would like to wrap the fundraiser around Veterans Day and hopes to have a raffle up and running soon.Cooper was clearly restrained when he talked about his anger surrounding the incident.”Believe me, I was upset,” he said Thursday. “I still am.”Cooper said as angry as he is with the thieves, he’s angrier with the scrap metal dealers.”Don’t they have any scruples?” he asked. “I can’t believe they would accept those.”The scrap metal dealers could very well have at least one boundary and it could be what kept thieves from taking the older World War II flag holders.The older flag holders have bronze medallions attached to them instead of the white metal used for the aluminum markers. Falasca theorized that it was actually the bronze that kept them safe.He said some time back a woman ordered a bronze military marker for a family gravesite, but it came with spelling errors. The military replaced the marker but left her to dispose of the mistake. Falasca said she tried to sell it to a scrap metal dealer but despite her proof of ownership they wouldn’t take it. He said that could be why the older markers were left untouched.Despite the fact the bronze markers were spared, it could cost the town approximately $14,000 to replace the aluminum markers.Cooper said he would release more details on the fundraiser as they became available.