Cemetery Vandalism at Historic St. Mary’s Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia

A statue which once stood on the columbarium at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Norfolk lays broken on the ground on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. Sometime overnight the cemetery was vandalized and several headstones and some statues were knocked down. (Steve Earley | The Virginian-Pilot)

About two dozen grave markers were vandalized or damaged at historic St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery [Norfolk, Virginia] sometime late Friday or early Saturday, the cemetery’s caretaker said.

At least two markers were broken in the incident, James Fitzpatrick, a member of the cemetery’s board of directors, said. In one case, the head was broken off a statue.

A survey of the cemetery, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2001 and is a Virginia historic site, showed at least 25 gravestones knocked over, Fitzpatrick said. A statue of the Virgin Mary near the entrance of the cemetery at 3000 Church Street was toppled. Several headstones at a plot reserved for priests were tipped.

Read the full article by David Putney in the Jan 1 edition of hamptonroads.com

About Leland Meitzler

Leland K. Meitzler founded Heritage Quest in 1985, and has worked as Managing Editor of both Heritage Quest Magazine and The Genealogical Helper. He currently operates Family Roots Publishing Company (www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com), writes daily at GenealogyBlog.com, writes the weekly Genealogy Newsline, conducts the annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour to the Family History Library, and speaks nationally, having given over 2000 lectures since 1983.

One Reply to “Cemetery Vandalism at Historic St. Mary’s Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia”

  1. How sad that young people today have no respect for themselves that they have to destroy such beautiful art work

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