‘It’s just sickening’: cemetery manager
About 20 headstone pillars damaged at historic Wolfville cemetery
More than 20 headstone pillars have been pushed over at the Willowbank Cemetery in what its manager says is the worst case of vandalism he’s ever seen.
Cemetery manager Chris Fuller saw several large pillars separated from their bases Nov. 23 as he drove up Gaspereau to the cemetery.
When he walked over, he counted 15 — one after another, side by side — that are wrecked.
“This is not normal. This is far from it. Who does something like this?” he said.
Historic setting
The cemetery is a place steeped in history. The land for the cemetery was donated in 1880 and is perhaps best known for the gravesite one of Wolfville’s most famous residents, Mona Parsons.
The now-broken pillars are from different decades. Pillars like that of Gideon Palmeter, who died in 1843, and Annie Elderkin, in 1895, now lie on the ground.
Fuller says this vandalism was not carried out alone, since breaking the pillars off their bases would require at least two people due to their massive weight.
The 15 graves toppled in a row in the cemetery’s area backing onto Gaspereau are also too coincidental.
He doesn’t know exactly when it happened since the cemetery has no surveillance, but knows it was within the past few days, as he walks the grounds daily.
This is also not the cemetery’s first vandalism incident this fall — two pillars were knocked over during Acadia’s Homecoming Weekend between Oct. 12-15, and two others happened about two weeks ago.
It’s an alarming trend that Fuller hopes has ended.
“To think of the stress and sadness this will cause the families of those whose headstones are now ruined, it’s just sickening,” he said.
Restoration challenges
To make a bad situation worse, Fuller is unsure how the pillars will be restored. The pillars are heavy, and would require a machine to lift them back onto their bases.