A year after the Boalsburg Cemetery was devastated by a heartless vandalism spree, repairs and a criminal investigation are still underway.
Over 50 beautiful gravestones – some dating as far back as the 1800s – were toppled, cracked and broken just before Memorial Day 2014. Estimates of the damage topped $100,000.
Although investigators haven’t had any new leads in about 10 months, police are still offering a $3,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the vandals says State College Police Chief Tom King.
“The families of those who had their gravestones desecrated deserve closure in this case,” King says. “We hope that this anniversary prompts someone out there with some information to do the right thing.”
King says the department had a handful of leads early on in the investigation, but they led to dead ends. Although the police chief remains optimistic about closing the case, he also admits that an arrest becomes more unlikely as time drags on.
Despite their limited success in the investigation, police say with some certainty this was not a single vandal. Because of the “sheer number” of gravestones damaged and the force required to break them, it had to be a group assault.
King, optimistic once again, thinks this increases the odds of finding the truth.
“More than one person is involved, and so more than one person knows what really happened,” King says.
A year later, most of the gravestones have had “temporary repairs, like Band-Aids,” says Dick Stever, president of Mayes Memorial. But bringing the gravestones back to life will take time – if it’s even possible.
About a dozen stones are likely damaged beyond repair, and will display their battle scars forever; the rest will see more long-term repairs come June. Stever said he felt “anger and disbelief” when he learned of the vandalism, which has only gotten worse after seeing the damage up close.
Though the crime may have been ugly, it revealed something beautiful about the character of Boalsburg. Business leaders, Memorial Day visitors and residents donated tens of thousands of dollars to offset the cost of repairs.
Stever doesn’t put a dollar figure on the damage, but some of the broken stones would cost “just an enormous amount of money.”
But for Jeff Selvage of the Boalsburg Cemetery Association, that’s not what really counts. He knows the Mayes Memorial family are putting in their extra time and effort because they care – which is even harder to put a dollar figure on.
If you have information about the incident you should call State College Police at (814) 234-7150. You can also file an anonymous tip by clicking HERE.
“It’s been overwhelming the way people have come together to support us,” Selvage says.
Look below to see video of the gravestone vandalism and efforts to repair the damage last May.
