Swastikas Painted On Over 200 Tombstones At Illinois Cemetery

GLEN CARBON, IL – A vandal spray-painted black swastikas onto more than 200 tombstones and a building at a southern Illinois cemetery over Memorial Day weekend; the final resting place of about 1,300 veterans. Police were called Saturday morning to Sunset Hill Cemetery in Glen Carbon, near the Missouri border, media outlets reported.

Edwardsville and Glen Carbon police arrested a 34-year-old man in connection with the vandalism after surveillance footage was released to the public.

"We would like to thank those who shared this post and called with Information," the Edwardsville Police Department said in a Facebook post. "The fact the citizens of Glen Carbon and Edwardsville refuse to compromise with crime is greatly appreciated by both police departments."

An investigation remains ongoing.

“We haven't seen anything of this magnitude in the 30 years that I've been here,” Mark Johnson, the cemetery's grounds superintendent, told KMOV-TV.

I hate to be reporting this days before Memorial Day, but 200+ tombstones we’re vandalized overnight at Sunset Hill Cemetery in Glen Carbon. Suspects spray painting swastikas on them. Over 1,300 veterans are buried here with a big Memorial Day event planned for Monday @KMOV pic.twitter.com/ZcMhPyqvzN
— Marielle Mohs (@MarielleMohs) May 26, 2018

Johnson told the Belleville News Democrat that the vandal also painted an office building and a pair of mausoleums.

"Sometime during the night, somebody came through and painted swastikas all over," said he told the newspaper. "This is just a rough estimate, but it was somewhere around 200 markers that were painted. They also painted swastikas on our old office building and on two of our family estate mausoleums."

He added, "It's just unfortunate that they're doing it this time of year, because it's Memorial Day. That's a special day for us."

Edwardsville and Glen Carbon Police Officers have taken a 34 year old white male subject into custody for this incident. Further information will be released after criminal charges are filed. Hundreds of markers at Sunset Hills and several homes nearby were damaged. pic.twitter.com/jeYTXzSnUU
— David Mueth (@DavidMueth) May 26, 2018

Sunset Hills Cemetery should be getting ready for #MemorialDay celebrations but instead they’re wiping off these spray painted swastikas. About 200 headstones were targeted @ksdknews pic.twitter.com/UL15BGyH9g
— Jenn Sullivan (@JennSullivanTV) May 26, 2018

Video posted on social media showed cemetery workers power washing the tombstones on Saturday.

"It's all hands on deck to try to get this thing cleaned up by Monday,” Johnson told KMOV.

The yearly Memorial Day Patriotic Remembrance and Patriotic Balloon Release is scheduled for noon Monday.

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