30 gravestones toppled, multiple vandalized at historic Black cemetery

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    Elsmere, KY (WLWT) — The Elsmere Police Department is investigating after 30 grave headstones were toppled and multiple were vandalized at a historic Black cemetery.

Police said the vandals toppled around 30 headstones at the Mary E. Smith Memorial Cemetery and defaced some of them with spray paint.

“The vandals sprayed-painted a capital A surrounded by a circle — uniformly recognized as an anarchist symbol — on the cemetery’s entrance sign and on some tombstones along with other graffiti,” Elsmere Police Chief Joe Maier said.

“The use of anarchist symbols in connection with vandalism in a historic Black cemetery doesn’t really make sense,” said Elsmere City Administrator Matt Dowling. “Most anarchists usually are not racists, but instead believe in social equality and have a distrust of wealth, privilege and government.”

City officials said they believe juveniles may be behind the vandalism, but said “that doesn’t diminish the seriousness of the offense.”

“Regardless of whether this crime was perpetrated by a juvenile, anarchist or racist, it has no place in the City of Elsmere,” said Mayor Marty Lenof. “Our city has a long history as one of the most diverse communities in Northern Kentucky, and this criminal act is not just an affront to people of color or those who have loved ones buried in this cemetery but to all people who live in our city.”

The cemetery, located on Martin Luther King Avenue, is operated by a volunteer board of directors. Formally founded in 1950, it’s one of the first African American cemeteries in Northern Kentucky.

Crystal Madaris, secretary of the cemetery board, said she will be submitting a claim to the cemetery’s insurance company to see if the vandalism is covered by its insurance policy. Madaris said the cemetery board also plans to reach out to Duke Energy to see if it can place additional streetlights near the cemetery.

Dowling said city officials have met with some of the cemetery’s board members, listened to their concerns and talked about how they can work together to prevent anything like this from happening in the future.

“Unfortunately, at this point, we have no witnesses to the vandalism and we have not found any video footage recording any evidence of the perpetrators approaching the cemetery or committing this crime,” Maier said.

Maier said that Elsmere police are continuing to investigate and are asking anyone with information about it to call the police department at 859-342-7344.

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