Vandals desecrate 114 graves at Wisconsin cemetery, police say

MERRILL, Wis. — Vandals damaged 114 gravestones at a Wisconsin cemetery, baffling police and living relatives who were devastated by the desecration.

Police believe the damage was done Friday night to Merrill Memorial Park cemetery because the broken headstones were discovered Saturday morning.

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"(The damage) is extensive, to say the least, and it will take a long time to document the damage, contact family, reset what can be and possibly repair what needs to be," Merrill police said in a statement on Facebook. "At this time, we are asking you to leave the affected stones where they are until further coordination can be done with cemetery management and the professionals can help with the proper and safe moving of the stones."

Police are asking the public for help in its investigation as they follow what leads they do have.

"Don't they have anything better to do," Susan Kroeplin, whose great-great grandmother was buried there in 1893, told the Wausau Daily Herald. "Whoever they are, or for whatever reason they targeted the cemetery, it hurts the relatives who are here to visit. To see something like this, it makes no sense. It's just devastating."

Cox Media Group