SPD hunting suspects in weekend cemetery attack

Published 5:08 pm Friday, August 16, 2019

Sometime between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, vandals unleased an attack on New Live Oak Cemetery, overturning at least 12 headstones in the historic cemetery and breaking a handful of benches.

According to John Coon, newly-minted Superintendent of the City of Selma’s Cemetery Department, the damage is largely superficial.

“There’s no physical damage to the stones themselves, as far as we can tell,” Coon said. “These bases aren’t hurt, I don’t believe, so we’re just going to get these markers reset.”

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Coon said the markers were toppled from their foundations, which means that the stones themselves have not been damaged and will only need to be reattached to the foundation upon which they were built.

Coon has been working with the department for almost a decade and he said this is the first time he can remember anything of this nature taking place.

“It’s evil,” Coon said. “The cemetery ought to be a place where people can be buried, they rest there and their families come to visit them there. People ought to leave things that don’t belong to them…they ought to keep their hands off other people’s property.”

Upon hearing of the damage, Coon immediately filed a report with the Selma Police Department (SPD), though he’s unsure whether or not the local force will be able to find the culprits behind the graveyard sabotage.

According to SPD Interim Chief Robert Green, the department ruled out desecration during an investigation Wednesday, believing instead that the crime is a simple act of vandalism.

“At first, we thought it was desecration, but it doesn’t fall under desecration,” Green said. “We made a report of criminal mischief. We think it might be an isolated incident. We’re keeping extra security on the cemetery.”

Green continued by saying that he believes too much is being made of the incident.

For his part, so does Coon, though he is concerned about security measures at the cemetery, which is meant to be off limits to the public after sunset.

According to Coon, the front gate of the old cemetery hasn’t been closed for some time and the back gate has been broken for years.

Further, Coon said there are at least six points of vulnerability within the fencing that surrounds the graveyard.

To that end, Coon is looking at having cameras installed around the premises and possible repairing the gates, but his main priority right now is ensuring that the overturned markers are repaired.

“We’re taking action now to have these markers reset,” Coon said, adding that he believes the work will be complete by the end of next week.

Also paying close attention to recent destruction is Doug Buster, President of the Cemetery Preservation Group (CPG), which has been leading a number of efforts aimed at revitalizing and beautifying three of the city’s cemeteries.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” Buster said of the vandalism. “I don’t understand a person’s motivation, why they would want to desecrate a burial site.”

Buster said he and the CPG “stand ready” to assist the City of Selma’ Cemetery Department in any way that it can.

“I’m just sorry the people of Selma have to endure something like this,” Buster said. “It’s just a real tragic situation.”

While Buster bemoans the attack on the local cemetery, he noted that Selma is not alone in facing a problem of this nature – Buster said vandalism of this nature takes place in graveyards all across the state and likely the country.

That being said, Buster noted that desecrating a grave is a “very serious crime” and he hopes that the perpetrators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Despite the trauma caused to the aged stone monuments, Buster doesn’t believe the work of the CPG will be hindered.

“I don’t really think it’s going to set us back that much,” Buster said. “If anything, we’re more determined to bring these cemeteries back to their former glory.”

Green noted that the SPD is still investigating the incident and both Coon and Buster hope that the offenders can be found and brought to justice.

“There are things that go on in the cemetery that just shouldn’t happen,” Buster said, noting that some of his volunteers have drug paraphernalia scattered through the cemeteries. “One day, they will be judged, whether we catch them or not.”