Cedar City Police seeking clues, tips in cemetery vandalism

Written by Jeff Richards
January 29, 2021

CEDAR CITY — Authorities are seeking information regarding a suspected vandal who toppled several gravestones in the Cedar City Cemetery earlier this week.

Cedar City Police Sgt. Clint Pollock said the incident happened sometime between the evening of Jan. 24 and the following morning.

Pollock said responding officers found a total of seven grave markers that had been pushed over. The affected headstones included some pioneer-era markers that were among the oldest in the cemetery, dating back to the late 1800s.

“Luckily, there is no severe damage. But it’s just sickening that somebody would enter a cemetery and cause heartache to families,” Pollock said.

Pollock said the only clue police have is a set of footprints left behind by the culprit.

Toppled grave markers in Cedar City Cemetery, Cedar City, Utah. Jan. 29, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“At this point, it’s hard to determine if it’s an adult or an older juvenile,” Pollock added. “It was a smaller footprint than our officer that responded on scene, but it still could be the size of an adult.”

“If anybody in the community observed anything that night or early that morning, we’re asking them to call us and report anything suspicious that they may have seen in that area.”

City workers and volunteers will soon start working on repairing the damage by placing the headstones upright and securing them on their platforms, Pollock said. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Cedar City Police Department’s non-emergency number at 435-586-2956.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!