Police are investigating at least six incidents of headstones being damaged, tipped over or destroyed at Springdale Cemetery in Clinton, Iowa.
Warren Mitchell visits his wife's grave almost daily, and said the news of the toppled tombstones is upsetting.
"You don't know what people spend for these. It's a lot of money," said Mitchell. "Whoever is doing this should be punished. And I mean punished."
The vandalism all happened in the last month, according to information shared by the Clinton Police Department on Tuesday, October 8, 2013.
"Some of the markers have been damaged, others have just been tipped over, but either way, it's damage to another's property," said Captain Bill Greenwalt.
Police also shared a portion of video captured by a surveillance camera at the cemetery, showing someone damaging one of the headstones during the past week. Although the video shows an individual, Greenwalt said there could also be more than one vandal.
"It's disturbing. For someone to go in and damage the property of somebody that's deceased... it's got to be troubling for anybody that would go up there to visit the grave site of a loved one, to walk up and find the grave marker has been damaged," said Greenwalt.
Anyone with information about the suspect seen in the video, or about the vandalism at Springdale Cemetery, is asked to contact Clinton Police at 563-243-1458 or Clinton County Crime Stoppers at 1-888-883-8015.
