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Subject: [Q-R] “Vandals have no heart”
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:54:51 -0500 (EST)

“Vandals have no heart”

“MINDLESS vandals” have pushed over more than 20 headstones in a
Leamington churchyard.

The damage has not only caused heartache for the families of those buried
at St Mary Magdalene in Lillington, but they face the cost of paying for
stonemasons to secure them back in place.
It has also caused an administrative nightmare for church officials trying
to trace relatives in a bid to get the headstones repaired.
The damage to 24 headstones which saw some completely toppled over and some
left at angles was discovered last week, said churchwarden Dr Godfrey
Carr.
He said: “It is a sense of disbelief when you see it – you can’t believe
that anyone would do something so stupid.
“It’s just mindless vandalism, they probably just tried it on one and then
carried on.
“The vandalism causes upset and expense for the families and it’s time
consuming for us trying to trace relatives.”
One person with a loved one buried in the Church Lane cemetery contacted
the Courier.
The person, who asked for anonymity, said: “I went to attend to a family
grave and to my horror found headstones pushed over and plant pots thrown
about.
“It’s hard enough losing a family member without going to find damage when
you visit.
“How would they like it done to their family’s grave – they have no heart
to do such a thing.”
The person appealed for people in the area to keep a friendly eye on the
graveyard and report suspicious behaviour to the police.
Dr Carr, a retired doctor of philosophy who worked at the University of
Warwick, said the damage was carried out in the lower churchyard, which has
around 200 headstones.
“They are the newer headstones which sit on a plinth and will have to be
put back in accordance with modern regulations, so they will have to be fixed
in place.”
The church has urged people not to try and push headstones back into place,
saying work must be carried out by stonemasons.
Dr Carr added: “We have good records so there’s a good chance that
relatives are traceable, but if we can’t trace them the headstones may have to
stay as they are.
“Technically, we can’t put them back up again – we have to get permission
from the diocese because we don’t own them.”

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