Mount Olivet Cemetery vandalized

Numerous headstones were vandalized in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Riverside. The vandalism was discovered Sunday afternoon. Jim Rose, a member of St. Mary?s Parish Council, said that about 100 stones were damaged and that many urns near gravestones were broken off.

Rose said that some of the old headstones that are tall and narrow were pushed over and broken in half. He estimated that as many as 50 headstones were pushed over. Rose said that this is the first act of vandalism to Mount Olivet Cemetery he can recall. He said the last major property crime he remembers in town was the theft of several American flags about 10 years ago that were placed along the roads for Memorial Day.

The Riverside City Council discussed the vandalism at its meeting Monday night. Councilor Rodney Waldschmidt recommended offering a reward to anyone who supplies information about the perpetrators. Waldschmidt said it?s important that law enforcement bring those responsible to justice.

?Even if it is kids, they need to learn a lesson,? said Waldschmidt.

Rose is the administrator of the Iowa Township Cemetery, which is across the road from the Mount Olivet Cemetery. He said there was no damage to the Iowa Township Cemetery.

Rose also said that a monument company has been contacted and it will restore as many of the stones as possible before Memorial Day on May 30.

Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar said in an interview Tuesday that the vandalism is under investigation. Washington County Investigator Chad Ellis and Chief Deputy Jared Schneider are collecting information about the incident.

Dunbar said he hasn?t noticed an increase in vandalism in any town, including Riverside. He said other cemeteries in the county have been vandalized in the past few years, but that cemeteries are not more of a target that any other place. He mentioned the vandalism at the Sandy Hook Cemetery near Brighton as an example of recent cemetery vandalism.

Dunbar said his office has never offered a reward for information, at least not during his tenure. He said that if it ever did, it would probably have to be approved by the Washington County Board of Supervisors and there would have to be money in the budget for it. Dunbar said he can easily imagine his department offering such a reward if the crime was sufficiently severe.

Dunbar said the perpetrators of vandalism tend to be young people who commit the acts out of boredom.

?They don?t realize how sacred those things are to other people,? said Dunbar.