54 Headstones Vandalized

In Hartwick Cemetery

HARTWICK – 54 Headstones in the Hartwick Cemetery, some of them over a century old, were broken and desecrated overnight in an apparent act of vandalism.

“It’s terrible,” said Sheriff Richard J. Devlin Jr. “It’s an absolute disgrace. People are upset. This is their loved one’s place of rest, and it’s been disturbed.”

The Sheriff’s department was alerted to the vandalism this morning, and went over to investigate. They found a total of 54 overturned gravestones overturned, and several of the older ones had been damaged. Investigators are currently interviewing neighbors in hopes of finding a witness.

Though he couldn’t say if this cemetery had been a target for vandalism before this incident, Devlin did say that it has happened at other cemeteries in the county. “A few years ago, we arrested a man for stealing floral arrangements and other items people had left at graves,” he said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office at (607) 547-4273.