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Swastikas and SS bolts can be seen painted on the headstone of a man named Isaac B. Culver in the Bay View Cemetery.
Cemetery officials were apparently reviewing surveillance tapes to help identify the suspect, though it was not immediately clear if police were probing the incident.
Lifelong Jersey City resident Pamela Roundtree snapped the photo of the headstone last week when she went to visit her uncle's gravesite.
"When I first saw it I was like, 'Am I really seeing this? Or am I imagining this?'" she told Daily Voice. "I took the photo as proof that it was there."
The images were disturbing to Roundtree, who said she did her best to remain calm and stay strong for her nephew at the scene.
A few days went by and Roundtree decided to post the image to social media.
"I shouldn't have to go through this alone," she said. "To see that there just did something to me."
It was not clear who Isaac B. Culver was, or why his grave was defiled. But the incident left residents feeling concerned.
"With Jersey City being so diverse i hate that there are people like this who feel the need to defile a grave because of someone's race," one person wrote on Roundtree's photo. "[Shaking my f--ing head].. whoever did this is a [coward]."
"I was in [Jersey City] last week and I noticed the cemetery’s fence was broken down and most likely invaded," another said. "Sad to see our own people can’t even Rest In Peace."
City officials did not return Daily Voice's phone call or email placed Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Local historians are urged to contact Daily Voice. Please email clevine@dailyvoice.com
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