Veteran’s Gravestones Vandalized in New England

Sorry to bring this story to light on Veterans Day, but we need to remember how important respect is.

At the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Massachusetts over the weekend, vandals knocked over gravestones, tossed flags on the ground, and broke figurines.

Apparently it's happened the last three years, and usually right before a holiday that honors Military personnel. The sites targeted seem to be those that have served our country.

We had hoped this was a one-time senseless act. However in August 2013, I got a call from WBPD advising me that an officer on patrol reported the spray painting of 17 stones, this time on the right side of the cemetery. Sickened, I went up to view the damage, and actually found 19 stones affected. Seems the vandals made a path from the entrance, walking down towards the back right corner, spraying as they went. Ironically some of the same graphics/symbols as the May 2012 incident clearly identified these cretins as the same ones both then and now. Which will definitely tie the two incidents together when we can find them.   Of these 19 stones, many were from the 1800s, about 1/3 were Veterans stones, including two rare Zinc/Alloy monuments. Several were Civil War Veterans, some in the Town's Veteran's lots, as well as the grave of another past board member. Some stones were ancestors/families of current volunteer board members including myself.  Many old town families such as Alger, Snell, Howard, and Pittsley were affected.

According to a report on NECN, police have no suspects.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help defray the costs of the vandalism.