Historic cemetery falls prey to vandals

LEIGHTON KEITH leighton.keith@tnl.co.nz. - Taranaki Friday, 8 June 2007
Hawera constable Lincoln McCrea is angry about destruction of headstones at Waihi Cemetery this week.
Vandals have desecrated four headstones at an historic South Taranaki cemetery.
The headstones at the picturesque Waihi Cemetery, on Pikituroa Rd, just south of Normanby, were kicked over and destroyed by vandals this week.
The cemetery dates back to the 1860s and soldiers killed in the Land Wars were buried there.
It closed in the 1960s but was re-opened about four years ago.
Constable Lincoln McCrea, of Hawera, says the four headstones, which date back to the early 1900s, are an important part of the region's history.
They had been knocked over in the past couple of days. Fulton Hogan workers reported the damage to police yesterday.
"These are old gravestones and it is just really distressing seeing that sort of thing getting destroyed," Mr McCrea says.
Pushing the headstones over would have taken quite a bit of effort. "It is just real mongrel stuff."
Police want to hear from anyone with information about the damaged headstones.
South Taranaki district councillor Ross Dunlop was closely involved in getting the cemetery re-opened, which took five years and required an act of Parliament.
Mr Dunlop said he couldn't understand why anyone would cause such damage.
"I'm totally disgusted by it. It is just a terrible act of vandalism."
Mr Dunlop said at a recent funeral people were commenting on what an amazing, tranquil place it was, surrounded by rolling hills.