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Published - Monday, June 02, 2008

Vandals deface, topple markers at Viroqua Cemetery

by Matt Johnson

Viroqua Cemetery was vandalized either late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

The vandals toppled markers, some weighing more than 1,000 pounds. They also spray-painted graffiti and symbols of hate on at least two markers. The most egregious damage was done to the cemetery’s largest marker for former Wisconsin Gov. Jeremiah Rusk. The vandals spray-painted graffiti on all four sides of the Rusk marker.

“I my 30 years of working here, I’ve never seen any vandalism this bad,” Clair Morrison, who has been a long-time caretaker at the cemetery, said. “There’s no sense to it. I can’t see what anyone would get out of it.”

A quick inspection of the cemetery found that two large markers had been knocked over, several small markers had been moved our taken out of the ground and then put back upside down. Also, some flags that had been placed by veteran’s graves for Memorial Day were taken out of the ground and reinserted upside down.

A marker for one couple, who passed away more than a decade ago, was spray painted with the works “Its dead get over it” on the front while there was a swastika painted on the back. Cemetery workers and the Viroqua Police Department were going through the cemetery trying to determine all of the damage that had been done on Monday morning.

Late Sunday afternoon, the cemetery hosted the Viroqua Historical Society’s Cemetery Walk, where about 40 people toured the cemetery while volunteers told stories about the history of residents buried there. None of the damage was in the cemetery during the tour.

The Viroqua Police Department is investigating and Kevin Morrison, the head caretaker at the cemetery, has been in contact with Crimestoppers officials. Anyone with information on this crime is urged to call the Viroqua Police Department at 637-2121.