Twenty-five headstones toppled in St. Thomas

St. Thomas police are looking for one or more people responsible for toppling 25 headstones and a cement bench at a local cemetery. 

It happened sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 Thursday afternoon at the St. Thomas Cemetery on West Ave.

Constable Tanya Calvert said it appears to be a random act.

"There is nothing left behind to indicate any kind of hate crime was involved," she said. "There's no graffiti or any kind of carvings or etchings and there really is no relation when you look at the last names and there's no relation even with dates. Some are very old, some are very recent."

Maintenance workers told police approximately 50 cars visit the cemetery every day.

Investigators are hoping people will come forward if they saw any suspicious behaviour Thursday afternoon.

"This act could also have happened relatively quickly," said Calvert. "They could have completed toppling over all of these monuments within a very short amount of time because all they would have to do is run up to it and kick it or push it."

Damage was  estimated at $1,500.  Calvert said it doesn't appear any of the headstones were broken or cracked but it will take heavy machinery and several workers to put them back in place.

No family members of the deceased had contacted police as of Friday afternoon, said Calvert.