Pocono News Section

More Cemeteries Vandalized in Montour County

More Cemeteries Vandalized in Montour County - Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 4:23PM EST

MONTOUR COUNTY -- Members of the Mooresburg United Methodist Church in Valley Township were in shock after seeing their nearby cemetery in ruins Sunday morning.

"These people out to rest in peace," said John Auten of Mooresburg. "This shows that these people don't have any respect for other people."

"The words they've put on there, it's very disappointing," added church pastor, Reverend Allen Acor.

The vandals painted things like KKK, Nazi symbols, even obscenities on the headstones. Some people came out Saturday night to try to scrub the paint off, but the pastor fears the damage can't be undone.

"How are they ever going to repair those stones that have all that graffiti on them," Acor wondered. "I just can't quite understand."

But this isn't the only cemetery targeted by vandals. About five miles away, Mahoning Township police say three cemeteries off Bloom Road were also vandalized some time between Thursday night and Friday morning.

"I walk through here all the time, and it just gets me very upset," said Gen Lebert of Danville. She says she knows people who's loved ones' tombstones were toppled. "It's too bad kids don't have anything else to do except destroy things."

Back at the cemetery in Valley Township, John Auten and his family still plan to buy plots here.

"They'd like to have the stones that lay flat on the ground," said Auten, who adds that's to ward off troublemakers who topple tombstones.

But Rev. Acor says that shouldn't have to be a consideration, and whoever did this should be punished.

"I think they've got to do a little bit of work to understand what they've done," said Acor.

Anyone with information on the Valley Township cemetery vandalism is asked to call state police in Milton at 542-2662. If you have information on the Mahoning Township vandalism, you can call police there at 271-5611.