WAXAHACHIE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Waxahachie police are looking for those responsible for damaging hundreds of gravestones inside the city’s historic cemetery.
City officials said this is by far the worst case of vandalism the city has ever seen.
A year ago, Marlena Salazar lost her dad. He was a beekeeper and her family worked very hard to create a beautiful gravesite paying tribute to that.
“We meet up once a month and we would spend time with him and then to come here and see that.. and even the kids, the kids were with us and they were like why did they do this to grandpa?” she said.
Monday morning, Feb. 28, she found her father‘s gravesite destroyed.
“I just don’t understand why?” she said. “What benefit do they get and not just my dad’s — the older ones?”
At the Waxahachie City Cemetery, which was established in the 1850s, close to 300 gravestones are damaged. It’s believed the incident occurred sometime between last Saturday and early Monday morning.
“It’s truly devastating,” Waxahachie City Cemetery Chairman Peggy Crabtree said. “It looks almost like a tornado went through the cemetery.”
Several of Crabtree‘s family members are also buried here and some of their headstones are damaged as well.
This morning they discussed repairs.
“Please don’t come out and start working,” she said. “The tombstones are heavy, they’re big.”
“We’re still trying to figure out what the best way to repair them is and we’re leaning on expert advice for that,” Waxahachie Communications Director Amy Borders said.
Many of the damaged headstones are more than 100 years old so repairs are expected to be difficult and expensive.
“The city has a website. Please donate if this touches your heart,” Crabtree said.
“I’m hoping first of all whoever did it knows just how much they messed up. It’s not fun. It’s not funny,” Salazar said. “We hope they know that what they did hurt.”
