Historical Grave Stones Vandalized At Attleboro Cemetery

ATTLEBORO (CBS) - Police in Attleboro are looking for vandals who apparently overturned more than 50 grave markers at the Old Kirk burial ground, a cemetery with hundreds of years of history.

Located behind the Second Congregational Church which oversees the site, it's where many of the cities founding families are buried along with veterans of the Revolutionary War.

WBZ-TV's Beth Germano reports

"They say you can tell the wellness of a community based on the wellness of its graveyards. This does not reflect well on our community," said Reverend Vernon Wright, pastor of the church.

Markers were pulled from their bases, some were cracked in two, others pulled right from the ground.

The soil was still fresh when caretaker Keith Preising made the discovery Monday morning, leading him to believe the vandals struck just hours before.

"You do one maybe out of anger, but to just continue to fifty? There is someone out there with serious issues," he said.

It's difficult to know how the vandals targeted the stones as some were toppled and some were spared. But they clearly hit sections of the cemetery that are not well lit at night.

Connie Uriot who volunteers to place flags on the graves of veterans calls it offensive to disturb such a sacred place buried with people who have given service to their country.

"It's an atrocity, it really bothers me a lot," she said.

Trying to repair or replace the damaged stones could be costly for the church which has limited funds to take care of the grounds.

"We're going to have to bring our church together and think long and hard about it," said Reverent Wright.

Attleboro police say they've interviewed neighbors in the area, and looked for surveillance video on nearby buildings, but so far have no suspects in the crime.

"It would have to have been someone relatively strong to pull these over with some thought and some know-how," said Reverend Wright.