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SIDNEY -ÊSometime between Aug. 14 and Aug. 19 vandals knocked over at least 40 headstones at a cemetery near Sidney.
According to Don Kay, Spring Creek Cemetery trustee, 40 tombstones were upended in the oldest part of the cemetery on CR 700S just east of Sidney. The path of destruction started near the road and extended to the back of the cemetery.
"The (headstones) knocked over are in the old part of the cemetery, which was closed to new burials five or six years ago," said Kay. He said most of the graves in that part of the cemetery are old enough that there is no immediate family left to contact.
"Some (of the headstones) are huge, I doubt one person could have done it alone. I'm not sure two people could have even done it."
Caretakers for the cemetery found the damage Saturday while mowing the grass. Kay said the damage had to have been done the week before.
"It's a poor way, in my opinion, to get excitement," Kay said.
The area of the cemetery damaged is not easily visibly from CR 700S.
"It had to be someone who either walked through the cemetery beforehand or someone who knew the cemetery well," said Kay.
According to Kay, the headstones are not destroyed, but all need to be reset. Kay said one stone's top was broken off, but he thought it could be repaired. The largest of the headstones is estimated to weigh around 2 tons. The cost to reset the headstones and make repairs is expected to be high.
"We will have to use a skid loader to set some back up, and it will be pricey to fix (the headstones)," said Kay. "A lot of them will have to be retouched."
Kay said he has no suspects "and unless one of them gets nervous, we'll probably never know who did it. Unfortunately, (people who do this) leave very little evidence."
