Dozens of tombstones were knocked over in two cemeteries in far southeast Iowa this month, and authorities are looking for the culprits. One-hundred-65 headstones in the Presbyterian and United Church of Christ cemeteries in Donnellson were tipped or damaged. 80-year-old Doris Hammer lives next to the Presbyterian cemetery. She says she went to the mailbox and saw the sheriff there and went up to see what happened. She says “it was a mess.” Hammer says it seemed the vandals chose to attack the oldest gravemarkers and very large stones. Hammer doesn’t think much of the people who did the damage. Hammer thinks they’re “terrible, terrible people” who should have to pay for the damage they caused. Yesterday, volunteers setup many of the stones which were tipped in the Presbyterian cemetery next to Hammer’s house. Hammer has relatives buried in both cemeteries, and is thankful none of their gravestone were touched. She’s been a member of the United Church of Christ in Franklin for 63 years.
