Watch Now: Damage to vandalized gravestones and memorials at Richmond's historic Hollywood Cemetery exceeds $200,000

By ALI ROCKETT Richmond Times-Dispatch Mar 16, 2021 Updated 3 hrs ago



More than $200,000 in damage was done to the cemetery shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday.

More than a dozen gravestones and memorials were toppled and spray-painted in Hollywood Cemetery on Saturday, causing more than $200,000 in damage, according to the Richmond police, who are investigating the vandalism. ... “The desecration of graves is just a cowardly act that we cannot tolerate,” Police Chief Gerald Smith said at a Monday news conference asking the community for tips or any information about the incident.

Vandals entered the cemetery shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday, he said. It appears the vandals used a sledgehammer to knock over headstones and used black spray paint on some. The graffiti was not legible, Smith said. ... The damage occurred in the Presidents Circle section of the cemetery, the final resting place of two presidents — James Monroe and John Tyler — among many other people. Smith said neither of those graves was disturbed.

The historic site is still an active cemetery and spans 135 acres overlooking the James River between the Oregon Hill and Randolph neighborhoods. More than 18,000 Confederate soldiers and generals are buried there. ... “There was no clear markings that the graves that were desecrated had anything to do with the Confederacy,” Smith said. “Regardless of where the grave is or whose grave it is, that is something that I don’t believe the citizens of Richmond can tolerate.”

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