Feds probe discovery of gravestones in Burlington Township

By LAURI SHEIBLEY
Burlington County Times



BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP — Two federal agencies are investigating how hundreds of discarded marble gravestones found their way from Beverly National Cemetery to a Burlington Township home.

The tombstones, which once marked the graves of veterans, were being used as landscaping at a private residence along Columbus Road.

Sue Hopkins, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs office in New York, said veterans' tombstones are routinely replaced. When that happens, they are supposed to be discarded properly.

“The rule is the tombstones must be destroyed, so they cannot be reused,” she said.

It appears that the homeowner in Burlington Township, who has not been identified by authorities, had used the tombstones for landscaping and to create borders around his yard.

Hopkins said that was clearly not an appropriate use for the stones.

“These markers are a final tribute to those who have served our country,” she said.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey served a search warrant on the property Monday. Yesterday, crews removed the gravestones and hauled them away in a dump truck.

Hopkins said the cemetery replaces tombstones when they are cracked or damaged. Also, tombstones are replaced when a spouse or a dependent child of a veteran dies, and a new tombstone is erected to reflect the multiple names at a particular grave site.

Hopkins said old tombstones are supposed to be broken into pieces so they are not legible.

Inspectors at the site said the old tombstones should be recycled and often are ground into gravel and used for the bases of new tombstones.

Officials could not say how tombstones from Beverly National Cemetery wound up at the home on Columbus Road, 7 miles away.

Mary Hendley, director of Beverly National Cemetery, said the discovery of the stones was upsetting.

“As an administrator, it is hard to imagine that something like this would happen,” she said.

Inspectors said some of the gravestones dated back to the Spanish-American War, and even earlier. Each stone weighs about 230 pounds.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will remove all the stones and properly destroy them, Hopkins said.

The homeowner could not be reached for comment.

Inspectors urged members of the public to call Beverly National Cemetery at (609) 880-0827 if they notice any other tombstones that are being used improperly.



E-mail: lsheibley@phillyBurbs.com

now that is a first read for me, unreal

It would truly sicken me if this was an attempt to hide a cemetery and build on it. NJ is getting to be a radical place to live. Loans for illgeal alines to go to college, but nothing for Veterans. Some of the states are really out of touch with reality. Wonder how many of them think another 9/11 can't and won't happen here.