FINDLAY, Ohio — Thirty tombstones were vandalized at Findlay's Maple Grove Cemetery Wednesday, and residents want answers.
Jan Roy visits the cemetery nearly every day. She waters flowers and pulls weeds. She considers herself an unofficial caretaker of the graves.
"I do have a lot of family buried here, even my own headstone is here," Roy said. "Hopefully I won't need it for a while, but I see a lot of people here walking and I talk to them. They have family here and it's just one huge family to me now."
When she learned 30 tombstones were vandalized, many of them more than 100 years old and some belonging to U.S. veterans, she was angry and heartbroken.
"It's important that people remember people's stories. Each and every one of us has a story and when you destroy someone's last memory, that's just wrong," Roy said.
The cemetery does not have security cameras and staff said it already was vandalized once several years ago.
"We would want to prosecute as much as we could. We would definitely want to do full charges against them," Findlay Public Works Superintendent Matt Stoffela said.
City leaders want to put the tombstones back together and are hoping local monument companies might step in to help.
"Wait until when you have to visit your family at the cemetery," Roy said. "I think you'll understand what you did and how wrong that was."
If you have information, you're asked to call the Findlay Police Department at 419-424-7150 or Crime Stoppers at 419-425-8477. You may be eligible for a reward.