Seven grave markers were knocked over last week in Surrey Centre Cemetery.
The graves stones were nearly all one metre or taller in height and were in the pioneer section of the cemetery, where most graves are more than 100 years old.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 absolutely horrible,sa国际传媒� said Michael Gibbs, president of the Surrey Historical Society. sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 understand why someone would do something like this.sa国际传媒�
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Sue Bryant, a member of the Surrey Historical Society, said she first heard about the vandalism April 26 through the sa国际传媒淔riends of West Cloverdalesa国际传媒� Facebook page.
sa国际传媒淚 went up right away and took a bunch of photos,sa国际传媒� said Bryant. sa国际传媒淪everal of the older headstones on the City side of the pioneer section of the cemetery were damaged.sa国际传媒�
Deeply saddened to see the damage caused by vandals at the Surrey Centre cemetery in the pioneersa国际传媒檚 section. Some of these headstones were over a century old.
sa国际传媒� Surrey Historical Society (@SocietySurrey)
The damaged grave markers include families such as: McCallum, Elliott, Acorn, Wood, and others.
Bryant gives cemetery tours and is very familiar with the stories of the families that are interred in the graveyard.
sa国际传媒淭his is very sad, given some of the damaged headstones date back to the late 1800s, early 1900s, and at least two are of children less than a year old.sa国际传媒�
Bryant said the pioneer grave sites occupy a part of the graveyard that is somewhat secluded.
sa国际传媒淵ou cansa国际传媒檛 see the area from any houses. Isa国际传媒檝e been there late at night and Isa国际传媒檝e seen a lot of people hanging out there.sa国际传媒�
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Bryant said the only other vandalism at Surrey Centre Cemetery that she can remember happened about 25 years ago.
sa国际传媒淚n the mid-90s, a big group of (gravestones) were vandalized.sa国际传媒�
Gibbs wondered if, given the profile of the pioneers, the historical value of the pioneer section, and its century-old markers, it wasnsa国际传媒檛 time for some more security.
sa国际传媒淚 think we need some cameras in here,sa国际传媒� noted Gibbs. sa国际传媒淭his cemetery is part of our heritage.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淐emetery staff have started the process to repair the monuments which were vandalized last week,sa国际传媒� wrote Laurie Cavan in an email to the Cloverdale Reporter. sa国际传媒�The contractor expects to have the repairs completed by the end of this week (May 1).sa国际传媒�
Cavan, the general manager of the Parks, Recreation, and Culture department, said the repair work will restore the grave markers in such a way that theysa国际传媒檒l retain their historic appearance.
sa国际传媒淭o prevent future vandalism, the repaired monuments will be fastened with a metal rod through the monument into its base,sa国际传媒� added Cavan. sa国际传媒淚t is rare for historic monuments in Surrey to be defaced or damaged by acts of vandalism.sa国际传媒�
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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