ELWOOD, Ind. — Three children are suspected of vandalizing the Elwood Cemetery by toppling headstones and stealing and smashing mementos.
The cemetery said it happened on Tuesday afternoon. The children, ages 5, 7 and 8, were first caught rummaging through a cemetery employee's car and running off.
Then they allegedly came back and knocked over more than 50 headstones.
Police say the children also took mementos left at graves and smashed them in a nearby street.
The cemetery's owner Marian Dunnichay, called it a sad day.
"I think it is an unfortunate incident," Dunnichay said. "We are dealing not with juveniles, but literally children. I don’t think fully understand what they were doing."
A bicyclist spotted the children smashing things in the street and followed them home while another person called police.
"To see the figurines, the angels, and the lanterns and the things that were just picked up and smashed in the middle of the road for no reason," Dunnichay said shaking her head.
"It's very tough. It's not an easy matter prosecuting people that young," said Assistant Police Chief Kyle Komer. "It's horrible. It's horrible young children think something like that is OK."
More than seeing the children punished, Dunnichay wants them to understand how munch they've hurt people.
"You hope the parents will instill in them how sacred this ground is to the families, the people and the community," she explained "It's just a sad unfortunate incident."
Most of the headstones have been fixed, but some of the larger ones will require machinery to put them back into place.