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  • Vandals destroyed or knocked over 80 tombstones in Hopewell Cemetery, some dating back to the 1800s. Detectives are seeking help in identifying suspects. Courtesy photo

    Hopewell Cemetery damage

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March 15, 2010

Vandals damage Hopewell cemetery

By Janet Jacobs Corsicana Daily Sun

Corsicana — Hopewell Cemetery in the western part of the county, was vandalized on or about March 5, and sheriff’s deputies are looking for help from the public.

“It being so muddy, we have a small amount of physical evidence we’re going on,” said Det. Hank Bailey with the Navarro County Sheriff’s Office. “We’re working it, but at this time we’re really looking for help from the community.”

Pete Goodin, president of the Hopewell Cemetery Association, said he got a call last Monday about the damage.

“On Sunday, it looked like half the cemetery was pushed over,” he said. “There’s probably 75 monuments pushed over or broken.”

The shorter, more modern marble markers were pushed over, while the taller pieces that towered over the field were often snapped in two. Some of those date back over 100 years to the 1800s when the cemetery was established.

Sheriff’s deputies counted 80 markers damaged or destroyed. The damage appears to have been done by hand, with the people rocking or pushing on the tombs.

Bailey estimates that to have professionals repair the damage would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Goodin is planning a work day this Saturday to help right some of the damage, and is calling on anyone with loved ones in the cemetery to come out and lend a hand.

“It’s a bad situation for this to happen,” Goodin said. “We’ll call the local people and try to get a few people down there and pick up all the smaller stones that we can. Of course, all the real large stones, they turned over three of those real tall Woodmen of the World stones. We may have to pay to have those monuments redone.”

Sheriff’s deputies are hoping anyone who noticed any damage to the stones will call in to help them create a timeline.

“Some of can’t be replaced. That’s history that’s gone,” Bailey said.

Bailey can be reached by calling the sheriff’s office at (903) 654-3002.

—————

Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to "Soundoff" on this story? E-mail: soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com

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