Vandals Hit Torrington Cemetery

Twenty-seven headstones knocked to the ground is what Old Saint Francis Cemetery manager Paul Piscitelli arrived to Tuesday morning.

"I don’t know why someone would even fathom doing this to someone’s loved ones that they lost years ago," said Piscitelli.

Some of the monuments date back to the late 1800’s and can’t be repaired or replaced.

"They’re irreplaceable. These families have no way of matching the stones or trying to repair them. They have to totally remove that antique monument and replace it with a new one," said Piscitelli.

The vandalism occurred early Tuesday morning between the midnight and two a.m., said police. Torrington officers noticed it while responding to a call next door at Willow Gardens where the vandals smashed in the windows of two cars and one apartment. In the daylight Tuesday, detectives came back to survey the damage. It could easily cost more than $10,000.

"We did attempt to dust for fingerprints, and we’re going to be looking into the fact of possibly developing that, and we’ve also acquired some trace evidence that we’re hoping will develop after we get some results from the forensic labs," said Lt. Michael Emanuel with the Torrington Police Department.

The cemetery was also vandalized two years ago, almost to the day. The vandals hit 14 monuments in the back of the cemetery. Police are looking to see if the two incidents are related.

"Generally what we find in instances like this, someone’s under the influence of alcohol or some type of narcotics substance, some type of drug and go off on some type of spree," said Lt. Emanuel.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Torrington Police Department.

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