Vandals attack cemetery, destroy headstones, monuments

ROME— Vandals have struck overnight at Rome’s largest cemetery, smashing and shattering some 70 headstones and memorial monuments. Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi decried the rampage at Verano Cemetery as a “vile deed.” Officials said Catholic and Jewish headstones were among the smashed monuments. Glass frames of loved ones decorating graves were shattered, and flower vases toppled. Italian news reports said investigators suspect that a group of youths slipped into the cemetery when it was closed at night and vandalized the tombstones.—

AP Among the vandalized graves are those of Jews at the Verano Cemetery in Rome.—