The damage included a tipped-over statue of an angel. (Green-Wood Cemetery)
The Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838, and is one of America’s first rural cemeteries. (AP)
Ghoulish vandals cruelly desecrated historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn — toppling dozens of gravestones, smashing monuments and doing roughly $100,000 in damage.
The destruction was discovered Tuesday morning by groundskeep¬ers, according to cemetery historian Jeff Richman, who blogged about the incident yesterday on the cemetery’s Web site.
“I have been visiting Green-Wood since 1986, and, while I recall some incidents of vandalism, I cannot remember anything on this scale or close to it,” he wrote, revealing that 43 memorials were ruined.
The acts of desecrations included tipping over a statue of an angel.
The malicious misfits also bent two stop signs in half, attempted to tip over a cart and rolled a garbage can down a hill, Richman wrote.
Among the final resting places targeted by the thugs was the Bourne Family Tomb, which was designed by deceased famous architect Ernest Flagg, Richman revealed.
Bourne family patriarch, Frederick Bourne, made his millions as the president of the Singer sewing-machine company.
An urn in front of the Bournes’ ornate tomb was pushed off its base and broke in half after crashing to the ground.
One of the suspects believed to be responsible for the unholy havoc was caught on security footage that has been handed over to the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force, which is investigating.
In the meantime, the cemetery is contacting families whose loved one’s graves may have been trashed and undertaking the task of fixing the extensive damage.
Ken Taylor, longtime vice president of operations, estimated repairs will be “well in excess of $100,000” according to Richman’s blog.
He is imploring people to visit the cemetery’s Web site and make a donation to help with the restorations.