Someone needs to explain to me why vandalizing property is fun.
Five headstones at the Fairfield East Cemetery on the Old Post Road were toppled sometime overnight between Monday and Tuesday of this week. Last year, vandals thought it would be a kick to chop down trees on town property too.
The cemetery is an historic burial ground, where many soldiers from the Civil War, the Revolutionary War and others are interred. According to an article in the Fairfield Citizen this week, Amelia Sturges, the first wife of Pierpont Morgan, who was considered one of the richest men in the world in his time, is also buried there.
Russell Wakeman, who is the cemetery caretaker, told the Citizen, “I would suspect it was probably kids fooling around. It’s the sort of thing that has happened and will likely continue to happen.” Now that is disconcerting.
There are no guarantees that the police will find the culprits and be able to keep this from occurring again. But if they are caught, I have an idea on how to keep them and others from vandalizing any more historic cemeteries or town property – make them scrub the headstones.
A couple of years ago, geneaologist Melanie Marks organized a gravestone-scrubbing day at the historic cemetery on Bronson Road. I participated. Although it was a rewarding experience to be able to preserve some of our town’s history, it was the hardest manual labor I have ever done.
I think it is just the avenue to teach a lesson.