JUNE 29, 2006.
Vandals damage cemetery
Vandals damaged a number of gravestones at the St. Mary's Catholic Church cemetery.
MIRAMICHI - The eternal rest of some at St. Mary's Catholic Church cemetery was disturbed last week when vandals knocked over and damaged several gravestones.
Volunteer caretaker Gerald Beaulieu made the shocking discovery on June 22 that sometime during the previous night, the gravestones were disturbed.
Two were damaged, one was knocked off its base and one stone cross was bent over.
Beaulieu said he wasn't really shocked because the same kind of incident occurred a couple of years ago.
"It's pretty bad when you have to go and bother the dead," Beaulieu said of the vandals.
Beaulieu couldn't estimate a monetary value on the gravestones but believes their significance to the community is more valuable.
One of the damaged gravestones dated to 1831 and Beaulieu estimates that many of the graves are from the 18th and 19th centuries.
"They're probably some of the first settlers here," he said.
"We're trying to salvage as much as we can."
Beaulieu has been trying to fix the stones but there's a fear of further damage because some are made of clay.
Beaulieu said he's even thinking about contacting government to see if there is some kind of grant that will fix the mangled gravestones.
Contacting family members of the deceased to let them know what happened is also a challenge because some of the gravestones were so old that the names have worn off.
Beaulieu doesn't think this act is anything personal since he has heard of similar incidents at other graveyards.
Sgt. Randy Hansen of the Miramichi Police Force said that while it doesn't happen often, they do periodically get calls about vandalism in graveyards.
[ September 30, 2006, 08:00: Message edited by: Jesse -Joe ]