CORDOVA, Illinois - Some Rock Island County residents say graves at a small rural cemetery were desecrated and not by vandals. What appears to be misunderstanding cuts deep for some families.
Larry Molitor looks at his son Lawrence's grave.
"This is our 16-year-old son," said Molitor.
While it's not a visit he wants to make, this trip is especially hard. All the decorations at his son's grave at Cordova Township Cemetery were gone.
The township has a policy, throughout the year items will be removed for maintenance. The items are put in a pile and people have 15 days to pick them up or they're thrown out.
"It's the community cemetery, it's the township cemetery, but at the same time we want to keep it looking nice," said Township Supervisor, Jon Kavanaugh
However, what made Molitor who's also a vet, really upset was that he says he found small American flags lying on the ground.
"To us veterans this is hallow ground," said Molitor.
Those who care for the cemetery say the flags were knocked over by people rummaging to find their stuff.
The cemetery rules were adopted back in 2010, but Kavanaugh says is being brought up now because the rules are being followed more strictly this year.