GRAND JUNCTION, MI -- Thirty-three tombstones in Lacota Cemetery were upturned or damaged in a spree of vandalism authorities believe occurred the evening of Saturday, March 19.
A pickup truck or an SUV may have been involved in the incident, but deputies have very little information or evidence, according to a news release from the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office.
The incident was reported at shortly after noon Tuesday, March 22.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office at 269-657-2006.
Geneva Township Supervisor Nancy Whaley said she believes the cemetery is about 175 years old, and the damage was done to the oldest section.
Some of the stones there were already tilted and worn smooth. "Our history is only as good as the stones we could read," Whaley said.
The remote rural cemetery has about 300 graves, she said.
"It's history, it's people's families, and many of them are all gone now," Whaley said. "Any time they do damage to a cemetery it upsets me. Why can't (people) respect other people's property and the history that is there?"
She said the township has notified its insurance company.
" We will fix them," she said.
Pam Pender, Van Buren District Library local history genealogy librarian, said damage to cemeteries hurts more than the local relatives of people buried there whose markers have been defaced.
"Because people come here for genealogy research they might find someone is buried in a particular cemetery, and if those stones have been broken or taken away they have no place to go and say this is where my ancestor is buried."
She said many genealogy researchers take photos of tombstones to preserve the information they contain, often far more than the dates of birth and death. Cause of death, number of children, spouse's name, and similar snippets carved into stone give clues to researchers as well.
"When people decide to do something like this (vandalism) they have no idea what they are doing," she said.