Vandals have struck at Saccarappa Cemetery, tipping over some of the oldest gravestones in the city.

The destruction at the oldest cemetery in the city has two local historians concerned about the damage to a piece of Westbrook’s history and the ability of the city to repair the damage.

Norm and Donna Conley of Puritan Drive have long been interested in the city’s cemeteries. The couple surveyed city gravestones and compiled a book on them for the Westbrook Historical Society.

While there had been periods of cemetery vandalism in the past, there had been no major incidents until recently. The Conleys became aware of the problem after receiving a call from someone who had just been to the cemetery and saw that many gravestones had been tipped over and damaged. The woman told the Conleys that she had found beer cans and liquor bottles littering the area, along with a high school yearbook.

Wanting to see for themselves, the Conleys took a ride to the cemetery and were shocked at what they saw.

Some of the oldest graves in the cemetery had been pushed over, gravestones were lying on the ground off their bases, and a large obelisk on one grave had also been toppled over. In addition, there were beer cans still littering the ground, an indication that people had been drinking in the secluded area.

“It looks like there was somebody up there carousing,” said Norm Conley.

Norm Conley said there was no way the damage could have been accidental or caused by nature. “This looks like it was blatant,” he said. “You have to work to get those things out of the ground.”

It appeared to Norm Conley that the damage occurred sometime after the Public Services Department had mowed the grass in preparation for Memorial Day weekend because there was no tall grass near the stones.

The couple estimated it would cost thousands of dollars to repair the damage. Donna Conley said the age of the stones tipped over greatly adds to the cost. “Most of (the damaged graves) seem to be the older ones,” she said.

While he said he had not yet received any reports connected to this latest incident, police Chief Paul McCarthy said cemetery vandalism has been a problem on and off for some time. “It has been an ongoing problem over the years,” he said.

McCarthy added while vandalism has been a problem in the past, he did not recall any major incidents of cemetery vandalism over the past two or three years.

The Conleys said they are also concerned about the ability of the city to maintain the cemeteries, especially after last year’s reorganization of the Public Services Department. They said they felt the cemeteries would receive less care as the responsibilities of the Public Services Department grew.

“It just concerns me that nothing’s going to be done, ” said Donna Conley. “And that’s a shame.”

Public Services Director Tom Eldridge said he was aware of the damage to Saccarappa Cemetery, and the department was working on getting the stones fixed. “We’re going to stand them back up as soon as we get the chance,” he said.

Eldridge said the rainy spring has hampered the department. Unable to mow the grass because of the wet weather, workers have been trying to catch up with the mowing around the city. That combined with recent preparations for Memorial Day and Westbrook Together Days have left little time for anything else.

Now that the department has been able to catch up on its work, Eldridge said he is going to have a crew straighten the toppled stones and have someone look into repairing the damaged ones.

Responding to the Conley’s concerns regarding the cemeteries, Eldridge said he felt the reorganized Public Services Department is adequately prepared to properly care for the cemeteries. “It’s a matter of organizing our workload,” he said. “(The reorganization) shouldn’t have affected the cemeteries adversely.”