Hogan Pledges Reward To Solve Ukraine Cemetery Vandalism Case In Baltimore County

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has pledged a $2,000 match to the Metro Crime Stoppers $2,000 reward being offered for information that leads to the arrest of the person or people who damaged headstones at a Ukranian cemetery in Dundalk. Hogan called the incident "heinous."

An estimated 50 headstones located in Dundalk's St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery have been knocked over and damaged. Baltimore County Police are investigating the vandalism. Sgt. Gladys L. Brown, a spokeswoman for the department, did not say whether the incident was being considered a hate crime, but cemetery administrator Stephen Humeniuk said the timing of the vandalism as Russia invaded Ukraine "is difficult to ignore." He told the Baltimore Sun that he received a call from a neighbor of the cemetery alerting him to the damage mere hours before Russia began attacking Ukraine Wednesday.

"The first thing you think is a hate crime, but you can't prove it," Humeniuk said. "There was no notes. There was no spray paint. Nothing to indicate that. It was just the timing of the incident and the crisis in Ukraine. I thought to myself: 'What else could go wrong?'"

Most of the damaged stones were located in a back corner of the cemetery. Adornments on headstones had been shattered and many of those that had been knocked over had cracked.

"To me, it was unprecedented and it was intentional and it was a hate crime — I'll say it," church trustee John Wojtowycz said.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski spoke out against the incident on Twitter.

"I'm appalled by the despicable acts of destruction at this cemetery, especially in light of the recent, unjustified attack on Ukraine. We should all be standing up for the Ukrainian people and speaking out against actions against them, whether acts of war by Putin or acts of destruction closer to home. I stand in solidarity with the families affected by this vandalism and with all Ukrainian families living in our communities," he tweeted.

Read more at the Baltimore Sun