Crime & Safety
Vandals Cause $34,000 Damage at Prince George's County Cemetery
Some headstones were knocked over, while others had chunks broken off the markers, according to police.
Authorities are seeking the vandals who recently knocked over 13 headstones and defaced other markers, causing an estimated $34,000 damage at a cemetery in Beltsville, reports WJLA TV.
Prince George's County Police officials said in a blog post that several gravestones and a statue at the De La Salle Cemetery were either toppled or vandalized between Dec. 30 and Jan. 6. In some cases, chunks of the gravestones were broken off, including the hand of a statue at the front of the cemetery, police said.
"It is sad to see the graves desecrated for people who gave their lives to work for others," Brother John McErlean, the director of LaSalle Hall, told the TV station.
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De La Salle is the second cemetery in Prince George's County to be damaged in the past two weeks. On Dec. 31, American flags were dumped in the mud, tires were discarded in a pit and 56 gravesites were disturbed when a tractor was stuck in the mud at the Cheltenham Maryland Veterans Cemetery in Prince George’s County.
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