An 80-year-old woman was visiting her husband’s grave. Then someone stole her purse.

Anne Ogden has spent nearly 76 of her 80 years visiting the St. Mary-Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

While there, she cleans the gravestones of her deceased grandmother, and more recently, her husband, planting geraniums around them, according to WBZ.

On Tuesday morning, she was there again, at her husband’s grave, when a man walked up behind her and snatched her purse. In it, there was nearly $1,000 in cash, she told the station, including several $20 bills with added emotional significance. When her husband died, she took one of the bills from his wallet.

“I took 20 dollars out. I did the same with my mother, my aunt Julie and my godmother Anna,” Ogden told WBZ. “Cause I felt they’ll always be with me, that’s what I wanted back.”

As the thief ran away, Ogden said she called after him, asking him to leave the money.

According to the Boston Globe, police later arrested 32-year-old Christopher Ansara for allegedly stealing the purse. They were able to recover the purse, but all the money inside of it was gone.

Police say Ansara confessed to taking the purse, per WBZ. Ogden told the station that she had previously visited the cemetery alone, but would not do so in the future.

“I’ve had a good life until this, what are you going to do?” Ogden said.

According to the Boston Globe, Ansara was previously charged in 2012 with accessory before the fact in the fatal shooting of a man in Lawrence as well.

This story was originally published May 27, 2017 at 4:21 PM with the headline "An 80-year-old woman was visiting her husband’s grave. Then someone stole her purse.."