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Feedback: Vandals Destroy Headstones At Cemetery

Story Published: Jul 12, 2012 at 1:14 PM EDT

Story Updated: Jul 12, 2012 at 9:20 PM EDT

After surviving for nearly two centuries, at least a dozen headstones at the Evergreen Cemetery in Felts Mills met their match - vandals.

Staff at the cemetery said vandals broke into a shed, took out a crowbar and hammer and went to work on old and new grave markers.

"To come over and find them all knocked over, busted to pieces, it's really upsetting," said Herbert Cross, the cemetery's sexton.

"They pushed the big stone over, which was my father-in-law's and my mother-in-law's and brothers and sisters, in one big area down there," said Larry Baxter, whose family members are buried in the cemetery.

Cross said the vandals damaged pieces of family and American history.

"There's five Revolutionary War soldiers buried in there and I've only been able to find 2 of them," he said.

For the people with family members buried there, they say they want justice and to make sure this never happens again.

"Right to the full extent of the law - do whatever you got to. Maybe it will put a stop to it," said Baxter.

Stopping this type of vandalism may be as difficult as repairing the damage already done.

"It's not replaceable. It's old. That's the oldest part of the cemetery," said Cross.

Cross said he will try to patch the stones back together and lay them on the ground in hopes they can withstand another century or two.

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Friday, May 24, 2013
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