POLICE are appealing for information following the further desecration of war graves in the City Cemetery. It is understood several graves were attacked on Saturday and Sunday night. A cross marking the resting place of a baby was also broken in half.
Sinn Féin Councillor Steven Corr said it was “hard to find the words” to describe the scene that many visitors and families faced in the cemetery. “The graves that were attacked were Commonwealth War Graves,” he said. “These are fresh attacks as there is a logbook kept in the cemetery and staff can tell when damage is reported. We know this happened over the weekend. These were particularly bad attacks in that one of the Commonwealth War grave headstones from 1942 was smashed and then placed on a fire. Another cross marking the remains of where a baby is buried was also broken off.”
Cllr Corr said extra security would be put in place.
“It’s not ok to be in the cemetery after closing time. These are people’s final resting places and all graves should be treated with respect and sanctity.
“We have instructed council already to measure up for extra security measures around the perimeter of the cemetery and will be convening to discuss once again how to try and stop these incidents.”
Chief Inspector Christian Bradley said: “Damage was reported to three war graves on Friday and damage to nine further war graves was reported on Monday. To damage any grave is appalling and I can assure the public that we will conduct a thorough investigation in a bid to bring those responsible before the courts but we need the community to help us.
“I would appeal to anyone with any information that could assist with our investigation to contact police in Woodbourne on the non-emergency number 101 quoting reference 592 07/10/19.”
