About 275 grave stones at the century-old Waxahachie City Cemetery — just south of Dallas — were vandalized earlier this week, including the gravesite of one of the city’s first settlers, police said.
Waxahachie city staff found the stones, many tipped over and broken, about 9 a.m. Monday, police said in a Facebook post Tuesday. Older headstones — some of which are more than a 100 years old — sustained the most damage, but some newer areas of the Hawkins Street cemetery were also marred, police said.
The marker of Emory Rogers, one of Waxahachie’s first settlers and founders, was among the lot, according to the post.
“This is by far the worst case of vandalism we have seen in the City Cemetery. Many of the markers that were affected are very old, and repairs will be difficult and costly,” Gumaro Martinez, executive director of the city’s Parks and Leisure Services, said in a statement.
Police are investigating and asking for the public’s help identifying the vandals.
