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The Orchard Street Cemetery in Dover posted about the incident on its Facebook page Monday evening:
“It’s a very sad day for Orchard Street Cemetery,” the post begins.
“…The cemetery grounds were vandalized. Not just slightly, but extremely.”
In addition to brutally knocking over nine historic headstones, the vandal(s) ripped through the property’s bed of chrysanthemums.
“It was shocking, to say the least,” the post continues. “We’re angry, and we’re sad.”
The vandalism occurred sometime between 6 p.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. Monday.
Orchard Street Cemetery, maintained entirely by volunteers, is known for being the site of graves from prominent local families and business people, its Facebook page says. Its military graves date back to the Civil War, WWI and WWII.
“We’re in rough shape, people,” the post says. “We need serious money to rectify this situation. The stones must be righted, there’s no question of not doing that. It’s just the cost.”
Anyone interested in making a donation can send a check to Orchard Street Cemetery, 130 Berry Street, Dover, NJ 07801.
Meanwhile, anyone with information is asked to contact police.
Scroll down to view more photos of the damages.
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