An investigation is underway after a mortuary fridge containing the bodies of five children broke down.
The unit at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton stopped working for 36 hours last Friday.
There are now fears the breakdown may affect future post mortems, making it hard to establish a cause of death.
Over the last few years, thieves have targeted war memorials in Enfield, Lewisham and Surrey.
Brass plaques were ripped off the war memorial in Carshalton last year, apparently taken for their scrap metal value.
They were eventually replaced thanks to a £20,000 donation from a scrap metal dealer, who had been outraged by the theft.
The garden of remembrance at Broomfield Park in Enfield was also attacked in 2009.
In total, 16 brass plaques - containing the names of 15,000 war dead - were wrenched off the walls of the monuments.
