What’s the point in defacing a cemetery, especially one that is hundreds of years old?
It blows my mind every time I see something done in these old cemeteries.
On Sunday, I took a drive to get out of the house to take a few photos and check a couple of geocaching things. It might not have been as warm as Saturday, it was still quite nice – in the mid 40s – considering it is the middle of February in update New York.
My drive led me to a couple of cemeteries. Both are out of the way, but not too far off the road, so it’s not like they are hidden.
I do realize that time can do some damage to old headstones, but when you see ones tipped over or sprawled out, you know it’s likely been done by a human.

Damaging cemeteries just doesn’t make any sense.
Why?
Cemeteries are an open history book. Unfortunately, in many aspects, it’s a history book that one may never fully be able to understand. Paperwork and information wasn’t as prevalent in the 1800s and earlier, making it awful hard to find out a lot of information about people. Too, some headstones can be faded over time, making it hard to read who is buried below.
Then there are the unmarked graves, which is a which different story.
But this isn’t about the headstones that have been damaged naturally.
This is about those in which people have done all the damage.
Anyway, I can’t figure out the point of doing this to a cemetery. What does it do for somebody? The worst part is the price to fix a headstone. Many cemeteries can’t afford to do it. Older cemeteries that might be under the control of a town, village, or county likely have it harder to repair any headstones because there’s not private funds coming in, usually.
Instead, what we have is forgotten history. If headstones are toppled, names and such can be covered or fade without anybody knowing anything different.
I don’t get it.
What does somebody get out of doing something like this? Is it a “show of power?” Is it a tough guy thing? Is it something else?
I only thought of this post because I happened across a few of these in the two cemeteries I visited on Sunday.
How about all of you? What do you think when you see things like this? Any ideas on why people feel the need to do it?
Post your thoughts below. I’d be interested to see what others think.
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