Cemetery Vandalism Spree 'Senseless'

Jeffrey Snow, caretaker at Edgewood Cemetery on Amherst Street, has been fielding calls for the past two days about the cemetery vandals.

"Wrong cemetery," is what he's been telling those who called or stopped by to see the extensive damage left in the wake of a vandalism spree, a March 14 crime made public Monday by Nashua Police.

"People look up Woodlawn on Google, and they have the phone number wrong. I tried to get it straightened out a few times, but apparently, that didn't happen," says Snow, who "practically grew up" at Edgewood Cemetery, where his father was caretaker before him.

The 80-plus headstones that were left in shambles March 14 are at the other city-run cemetery, Woodlawn, 40 acres along Kinsley Street, where caretaker Len Fournier is still shaking his head about the senseless destruction.

"We'll fix what we can. Most of them are just knocked over, so we'll set them back up – but I'm not doing anything about it right now, not until the snow is gone," said Fournier.

For those headstones irreparably damaged, Fournier isn't certain how that will be handled.

"We'll make a decision on them, one at a time," he said.

It's the first time in his eight years at the cemetery that he's seen damage of this kind, Fournier said. Although not an uncommon occurrence among cemeteries in general, Jeff Snow said in all his 28-plus years on the job, he's not seen anything like it, either.

"Knock wood, aside from some minor damage, there hasn't been anything like it here," he said of Edgewood Cemetery.

Although Fournier estimated damage at about $30,000, Snow said it's impossible to know the cost of clean up and repair, until the job's done.

The cemetery gates are not locked up at night, said Snow, "and my opinion, we don't want them locked up. If so, then the only ones inside will be the ones who climb the fence to get in," Snow said.

"I'd prefer cemeteries remain open so there's always a chance people walking through or visiting graves will be a deterrent to vandals. I'm of the school of thought that we keep them open so the public can keep an eye on them," Snow said.

To that end, Nashua Police Lt. Michael Moushegian said police are relying on the public to assist in catching those responsible for the damage at Woodlawn.

"Without the public's help, I'm not certain we'll be able to solve this one," Moushegian said.