09/27/10 Oak Hill Cemetery in Plymouth was vandalized Saturday night or early Sunday morning with dozens of tombstones being tipped over, broken off or destroyed.
The totals are not in but members of Tri Kappa are saying that more that 60 grave sites in the older section of the cemetery were victims of vandalism. Tri Kappa representatives were in the cemetery preparing for the History Walk that was Sunday afternoon. They were devastated at what they found. Some members cried, and then got mad when they thought about the vandalism.
Jim Ousnamer, Superintendent of Oak Hill Cemetery said he was “disturbed” with the damage. He said, “This is the third time this summer that we have had vandals damaging stones in the cemetery.” He explained that it will take at least 3 days of work to reset and restore the damage. The cemetery will use a front-end loader with a special sling to hoist many of the stones back to their standing grander. The monuments that are damaged or broken cannot be fixed. Ousnamer said his budget does not have a line item for that type of work and he said the stones are actually the property of the families. Therefore it would be the responsibility of their heirs to make the necessary repairs.
Oak Hill Cemetery is no stranger to damage. Ousnamer said 11 or 12 years ago more than 65 stones were damaged.
Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter went out to the cemetery and surveyor the damage and said, “It’s unbelievable the lack of respect some people have for the value of anything.” He continued by saying, “The Plymouth Police Department will start a case investigation tomorrow. Investigator Ted Brown will be meeting with Superintendent Ousnamer and taking pictures of the damage.”
Anyone with information on this crime is asked to contact the Plymouth Police Department.
