desecration
I had a phone call this evening from someone in our community. His MIL is buried not far from Abby, and his family had planted flowers over their mother's grave, which had no grass covering it yet. Several families have done this as well, and they maintain the graves by watering the flowers regularly and pulling weeds. Well, this particular family went to the cemetery today to water the flowers and when they got near their mother's grave, they noticed that all of the flowers were gone. Pulled out by the roots, and the solar light they had there was gone as well.
Looking around that area of the cemetery, they noticed that all of the solar lights that were stuck in the ground near the headstones (ones that weren't attached or put in the flower vases on the headstone itself), were gone. The person who works at our cemetery was told to, or given the go-ahead to remove all the solar lights, ceramic decorations and flowers that were not attached or on top of the headstones. So, the solar lights that I just put out with my Grandma and Grandpa's grave? Gone. Thrown into the garbage can beside the workshop at the cemetery. I took pictures. They didn't even try to carefully put the solar lights in the shed, the tossed them in the garbage, and I saw a tiny ceramic angel in their as well, broken now.
The reasonsing behind this desecration? There is some kind of bylaw that states that there isn't supposed to be anything planted on or near the graves, no ceramic decorations, nothing. Only a headstone with an attached vase is allowed so that it's easy for the grass to be mowed, and so the guy doing the mowing isn't held responsible for breaking anything if it gets bumped or mowed over while he's working. I was told all of this when we put down Abby's sod and had her headstone installed, but the town council person told me that even though technically the solar lights are not "allowed" they would leave them alone.
Last Spring, the staff out there had the nerve to remove Abby's ceramic angel and I immediately put it back where it belonged. When I got the call tonight, Jack and I flew out to the cemetery with my camera and took pictures of the solar lights and flowers in the garbage can, then drove over to Abby's grave. Her ceramic angel is still there, only because it's sitting on the base of her headstone and not on the ground, and her solar light is still there because it's in the vase on her headstone and not stuck in the ground.
I'm so angry that someone would go and remove things that family members have lovingly placed in memory of their mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents. We've paid for that piece of land, we've maintained it, and the town has no right to remove such precious items just to make their mowing job easier. Other than mowing grass and spraying for weeds (which wasn't done this year), what do they have to do out there!? It's the family members who maintain the graves and I'm so furious that they would do such a horrible thing. As we were leaving the cemetery we drove past the garbage can again and since it was getting dark, some of the solar lights were starting to turn on. It broke my heart to see them in there, still shining bright, and I didn't remove them because one of the town council members was on her way out to see the vandalism herself. There are a lot of angry family members out there. I'll be calling the mayor and town council tomorrow morning, there will be a letter to the editor of our local paper submitted too, and I will make them regret their actions.
Looking around that area of the cemetery, they noticed that all of the solar lights that were stuck in the ground near the headstones (ones that weren't attached or put in the flower vases on the headstone itself), were gone. The person who works at our cemetery was told to, or given the go-ahead to remove all the solar lights, ceramic decorations and flowers that were not attached or on top of the headstones. So, the solar lights that I just put out with my Grandma and Grandpa's grave? Gone. Thrown into the garbage can beside the workshop at the cemetery. I took pictures. They didn't even try to carefully put the solar lights in the shed, the tossed them in the garbage, and I saw a tiny ceramic angel in their as well, broken now.
The reasonsing behind this desecration? There is some kind of bylaw that states that there isn't supposed to be anything planted on or near the graves, no ceramic decorations, nothing. Only a headstone with an attached vase is allowed so that it's easy for the grass to be mowed, and so the guy doing the mowing isn't held responsible for breaking anything if it gets bumped or mowed over while he's working. I was told all of this when we put down Abby's sod and had her headstone installed, but the town council person told me that even though technically the solar lights are not "allowed" they would leave them alone.
Last Spring, the staff out there had the nerve to remove Abby's ceramic angel and I immediately put it back where it belonged. When I got the call tonight, Jack and I flew out to the cemetery with my camera and took pictures of the solar lights and flowers in the garbage can, then drove over to Abby's grave. Her ceramic angel is still there, only because it's sitting on the base of her headstone and not on the ground, and her solar light is still there because it's in the vase on her headstone and not stuck in the ground.
I'm so angry that someone would go and remove things that family members have lovingly placed in memory of their mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents. We've paid for that piece of land, we've maintained it, and the town has no right to remove such precious items just to make their mowing job easier. Other than mowing grass and spraying for weeds (which wasn't done this year), what do they have to do out there!? It's the family members who maintain the graves and I'm so furious that they would do such a horrible thing. As we were leaving the cemetery we drove past the garbage can again and since it was getting dark, some of the solar lights were starting to turn on. It broke my heart to see them in there, still shining bright, and I didn't remove them because one of the town council members was on her way out to see the vandalism herself. There are a lot of angry family members out there. I'll be calling the mayor and town council tomorrow morning, there will be a letter to the editor of our local paper submitted too, and I will make them regret their actions.