Police in Waterbury are investigating a vandalism at a Jewish cemetery where a dozen gravestones were knocked over.
Volunteers say workers first discovered the vandalism at the Hebrew Benefit Cemetery on Stillman Road last week.
“Some workmen were out here cleaning some headstones. They noticed that the stones had been turned over,” Eric Tishman from the Jewish Cemetery Association of Greater Waterbury said.
Waterbury police said they received a report this past Tuesday from a person visiting a loved one’s grave who spotted the overturned stones.
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The department’s forensics team responded.
“My wife and I have been associated with this organization for almost 20 years. We’ve never seen anything like this. Occasionally there will be garbage, or maybe one stone knocked over, but this was 12 stones,” Tishman said.
The cemetery dates back to the 1800s. The stones impacted date back to the 1940s.
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Tishman said it’ll be pricey to get them upright.
“This is gonna cost us about $9,000 to have the stones remounted,” Tishman said. “We’re an all-volunteer organization. We don’t have a lot of money. So it’s significant amount of money for us.”
Luckily, none were damaged, he said.
“We’re hearing constantly from people, was their family involved, and we’re giving them assurances. The good news is none of the stones were damaged,” Tishman said.
Police say there’s no evidence to suggest this was a hate crime, but it’s shaken up the Jewish community.
“It’s a stone, but to a family, it represents a lifetime. There’s a father there, there’s a mother there, a sister, a brother, so from that regard, it’s very painful for all of us. I see the faces, we all see our faces,” Ron Sheps of the Hebrew Benefit Association said.
“We have people very close to us who were there, and you want to find out the names, you don’t want to find out the names. I shudder to think of the names that it might be. There are so many people who touch us here," he continued.
