Cemetery Vandalism Just Won’t Die

Whatever happened to respect for the dead?

On a regular basis, newspapers run stories of nighttime cemetery scenes in which grave markers are destroyed or stolen. Decades-old memorial stones are toppled, and concrete vaults are pried open. Fragile markers of lives long gone are turned into rubble in the blink of a bleary eye.

Granted, this is not a new trend. Youngsters for generations have found darkened graveyards too tempting in their search for the perfect spot to enact destruction.

But the problem seems to be escalating.

Last week (Jan. 13) in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, the city's oldest graveyard was attacked. More than 20 mangled gravestones were discovered by police who claimed to be baffled at such destruction. And another incident occurred this past Halloween in Caseyville, Illinois, where a vandal violated 5 graves at a 155-year-old cemetery, destroying stones, tearing out planted flowers and leaving behind evidence of what police officials are calling a satanic ceremony.

But malicious activity like this is not just a local problem. In Franklin Co., Illinois, a group of teens struck at a 200-year-old cemetery last February, damaging nearly 50 headstones, one-third of the markers in the Mitchell Cemetery. In March, three girls, two age 9 and one age 12, knocked over 40 stones in Nebraska’s oldest cemetery, causing damage that will cost $30,000 to repair. And in June, two 11-year-olds in Massachusetts admitted to toppling 24 headstones, some more than a century-and-a-half old.

A month later, 38 markers designating Jewish graves in a Denver cemetery were damaged by unknown vandals. And in Washington state in September, the gravestones of 250-plus pioneer men and women were desecrated by a pair of teens at a cemetery that was the scene of similar damage in January.

And on Halloween 2004, a 150-year-old Chicago cemetery was the scene of the crime when teens caused more than $5,000 in damage to obelisks and stones there.

But it isn’t only teens and preteens doing the damage. In September, a 36-year-old Pennsylvania woman and her 5-year-old daughter were caught with a collection of vases, statuary and other items they stole from area cemeteries over a period of several months. The woman also confessed to vandalizing many graves during the thefts. Authorities estimate that repairs could top $10,000.

All of this detestable damage took place in the past a year all over the country.

Back about 150 years ago, a different mindset prevailed. What’s known as “the rural cemetery movement” was responsible for the development of artfully designed cemeteries such as Pere Lachaise(cq) Cemetery in Paris and Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston. Bellefontaine Cemetery on West Florissant Ave. in St. Louis is such a burial ground, one of 32 national garden, or rural, cemeteries. In Great Britain and the U.S., these sites were more than just a place to visit on key holidays. Decorated with ornamental benches and meditative sculptures, they were frequented by families for picnics and times of peaceful enjoyment and were a reflection of a respect for the dead that is often missing these days.

Today, the cleanup of neglected cemeteries earns newspaper headlines. The renovation of the 200-year-old Vaughn Cemetery in Wood River, Illinois, for example, was completed in September. The historic cemetery includes 7 graves of those killed during what is known as the Wood River Massacre and had often been the site of tombstone terrorism.

Of course, there are other exceptions to the trend of graveyard disrespect. For example, a group of volunteer actors in Alton has been galvanizing local interest in cemetery etiquette for 4 years by staging live mini-dramas in the City Cemetery, constructing verbal epitaphs of the dead locals who are buried there. Last year’s (2005) Vintage Voices program drew hundreds of paying visitors over 4 weekends in September and October.

If bringing the dead back to life is one way of rebuilding respect for our loved ones’ final resting place, let’s just hope that more communities will find equally constructive solutions to a problem that just won’t die.