Vandals strike Marysville cemetery again

The Marysville Cemetery has sustained another round of vandalism, with volunteers discovering Wednesday as many as 10 headstones or monuments knocked over.

Roberta Shurtz, chairwoman of the Marysville Cemetery board, said the damage doesn't appear to be extensive as vandalism done a year ago, which was estimated to cost about $20,000 to repair.

"They hoist themselves over the fence and away they go," Shurtz said Wednesday evening, as she was planning to go to the cemetery with a map to document which plots were damaged. "It's very, very frustrating."

Shurtz said a volunteer crew at the cemetery last Saturday noticed a couple of headstones near the entrance knocked over, but she wasn't sure when the damage occurred because weather kept volunteers from going to the cemetery on a typical Wednesday work session last week.

Some of the damaged monuments had footprints on them, she said, making her think whoever did the damage did so by either kicking the stones or climbing on them to topple them.

Shurtz said the vandalism is more discouraging because crews only recently finished repairing those stones damaged by the previous stone-toppling spree last April.

No one was caught in connection with that damage, she said, and she has no idea who might have been responsible this time. Shurtz added she has already filed a report with the Marysville Police Department.

Repairing the latest damage could involve not only another insurance claim by the city, she said, but volunteers raising $5,000 for the insurance deductible.

Adding more security might also be something to discuss, Shurtz said, though a security company already stops by the cemetery occasionally to take a look.

"These people had to have been there a long time," she said, adding she is doubtful the city could afford security cameras at the cemetery. "It's just very upsetting."

CONTACT Ben van der Meer at bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4786. Find him on Facebook at /ADbvandermeer or on Twitter at @ADbvandermeer.