'Disgusting' vandalism at Cherry Hill cemetery leaves trail of headless statues
The monuments at Calvary Catholic Cemetery were defaced back in January and await repairs, but many community members remain upset.
Jody Priebs had heard of vandalism at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Cherry Hill, where generations of her ancestors are buried, but the sight of headless grave-site statues still was upsetting as she visited the place Tuesday.
Thirty-eight monuments at older graves, many of which feature statues of Catholic saints, were found defaced in January and are awaiting repairs. The vandals left many saint sculptures headless, with some of the stone heads, apparently sawed off, lying scattered amid the dandelions.
"It's disgusting. I mean these people don't bother anybody," said Priebs, of Audubon, gesturing toward graves around her. Priebs was visiting her parents' graves nearby.
Although none of the Priebs family graves were affected, she worried the vandalism could be a statement by someone against the Catholic faith.
The damage was confined to an older part of the cemetery where monuments and graves date as far back as the early 1900s. The cemetery opened in 1900 and comprises 52 acres of burial space.
Monuments were found defaced Jan. 13. The Camden Diocese, which owns the cemetery, informed Cherry Hill police that day, said diocese spokesman Michael Walsh.
Lt. Amy Winters, a spokeswoman for the Cherry Hill Police Department, said on Tuesday that an investigation was continuing but that police had no suspects.
Since the January incident, the diocese has tried to contact families whose relatives' graves were defaced to discuss repairs. As of Tuesday, nine had responded, and have granted the diocese approval to attempt repairs on their monuments, Walsh said.
Although the families own the monuments, the cemetery will pay for minor repairs to the graves, Walsh said. If a family prefers a more extensive repair, it can contract with a monument repairer.
The cemetery plans to repair all monuments at the same time and is awaiting repair proposals from monument vendors before beginning work.
Since the vandalism, the cemetery has taken measures to improve its security by closing some gates at night and upgrading its video surveillance system.
William A. Percival Jr. worries this won't be enough. As Percival visited his son's grave Tuesday in a newer part of the cemetery, he expressed concern there would be further vandalism in the future.
"I think there should be a guard at night," Percival, of Cherry Hill, said, although he said he understood that a guard might not be financially feasible.
"Whether it's people against the Catholic religion or kids with nothing to do, well, when I got into mischief when I was younger, destroying property was not something I would do," he said.
In February, similar vandalism was reported at Mount Carmel Cemetery, a Jewish site. Police reported between 75 and 100 headstones were toppled at the Philadelphia cemetery. Many called the incident an anti-Semitic hate crime. Since then, more than $141,000 has been raised through a GoFundMe campaign and by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia to pay for restorations.