Vandals ran amok in Red Deer’s Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery on the weekend, smashing memorial angels and crosses and leaving flowers strewn around the grounds.
“I just couldn’t believe somebody would do that,” said David Bouchard, president of the Knights of Columbus committee that maintains the cemetery off 67th Street just west of 52nd Avenue.
“Some of the monuments had angels sitting on top of them that were smashed and scattered. There’s crosses that are broken.
“Somebody came along there with a baseball bat.”
The damage happened sometime overnight Saturday after 10 p.m., said Bouchard.
Families had come and taken away some of the damaged memorial statues by Monday. But there are still a number of broken angels, flower holders and other mementoes lying in pieces, including a pair of small ceramic dogs that had been next to one memorial.
Bouchard estimated the damages in the thousands of dollars. It is, by far, the worst vandalism at the cemetery since the Knights took over maintenance in 2000, he said. A few headstone were damaged three or four years ago, but nothing like this.
Police have been alerted to the incident and it’s hoped someone may have heard something or will come forward with other information. There are homes not far away in the Parkside Estates mobile home park.
Anyone with information can call Red Deer RCMP at Red Deer RCMP at 403-343-5575 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com