Police investigate cemetery damage

CASEY, Ill. (WTHI) - Authorities in Clark County, Illinois are investigating damage to dozens of tombstones and mausoleums at Casey’s Washington Street Cemetery over the weekend.

On Monday, those who oversee the cemetery got word that about thirty tombstones had been toppled, and that many were broken. They also learned that someone had damaged the heavy doors of a mausoleum at the cemetery.

“Some of these tombstones are very old,” said township supervisor Carl Vernon, who oversees the cemetery. “Some of them that were damaged date back to the 1800s, and some of them are beyond repair. (They’ll) never be able to be restored.”

Officers with the Clark County Sheriff’s department said they found further damage to the mausoleum doors on Tuesday.

“The mausoleum was built in 1923, and we hope we will be able to restore the door back to near what it was, but it may be beyond repair too,” Vernon said.

Authorities said this cemetery has been vandalized before. They also say damage like this done to a cemetery is a felony.

“This actually is called ‘Criminal Damage to State-Supported Property,’” said Deputy Rick Shutter of the Clark County Sheriff’s Department. “It’s kind of an in-your-face to the whole community.”

The sheriff’s department is asking anyone who has information on the incident or who may have seen something suspicious at the cemetery to contact their office at (217) 826-6369.