A Confederate Cemetery to Add Cameras After Graves Desecratedcemetery will be adding more security cameras after people vandalized and desecrated the graves of Confederate soldiers.
Two people were caught on camera sneaking into Oakland Cemetery Park in little Rock on July 11 and writing "Black Lives Matter" and an obscenity related to President Donald Trump on an obelisk marking the graves of nearly 900 unidentified Confederate soldiers, according to Sexton John Raines, who works at the cemetery.
Several headstones were damaged including nine unknown soldier headstones, the obelisk, and a named Confederate soldier headstone.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans, who donated the cameras to the cemetery, plan to donate even more cameras following the vandalizing. Stephanie Jackson, spokeswoman for Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said the mayor believes a national movement against Confederate monuments has sparked a change in action toward such symbols.
According to DailyCaller
“Desecration of any grave is a crime, and the Little Rock Police Department is fully investigating,” said Stephanie Jackson, spokeswoman for Democratic Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr., according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Jackson added that the vandalism “isn’t unique to Little Rock.”
“As you’re aware, people all over the U.S. and in Arkansas have called for the removal of Confederate statues,” she said. “The base of the Confederate Statue at MacArthur Park being vandalized is just one example.”
Rains, who has worked at the cemetery for 9 years, said that the Oakland Cemetery hadn’t had problems with crime until earlier this month, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
None of the burial sites that were vandalized are covered by insurance and the cost of replacing them will fall entirely on the cemetery, Rains said according to the report. The Sons of Confederate Veterans, who donated 9 of the headstones that were vandalized, will help with the cost, according to Rains.
