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07/09/2008
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Staff photo by David Leaming
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Staff photo by David Leamingfrom the Kennebec Journal
Rep. Pingree hears varied proposals for health-care solutions
HALLOWELL Fire that cut communications labeled arson
MONMOUTH Police defended after slim budget rejection
State's schools chief to parley
Wasser will lead newsrooms at KJ, Sentinel and in Portland
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Hockey still in picture for Harrington
Portland boxer to face legend's son
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$1.3 MILLION FOR HEALTHREACH
Families Matter grows to meet special needs
Chellie Pingree listens to ideas on health care reform
FARMINGTON Rain alters plans for 4th of July
District regroups after budget failure
Vote on county budget hits snag
Burnham driver wins checkered flag at 2 tracks on same day
Maine boxer gets unique opportunity
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from the Morning Sentinel
Gravestones are tipped over, markers broken, flowers and pots strewn all over the cemetery -- and American flags yanked from their stands.
"Some stones have been picked up and thrown," said Levesque, 67. "It's terrible, and all the veterans' graves have been tipped over or destroyed. Some of the stones were made of metal and those were totally destroyed and they cannot be replaced."
Levesque said 49 stones were damaged or broken. She was heartbroken and angry when she saw her relatives' graves around 2 p.m. Tuesday, about a half-hour after a resident called state police to report the vandalism.
"My grandfather, my grandmother, two uncles and an aunt, my mother and two brothers -- they're all buried there," Levesque said. "They (vandals) have hurt a lot of people. If it's kids, I say give 'em a backpack and drop 'em on Baghdad and see how they like it."
The vandal or vandals also broke a window of the Quaker Hill Christian Church, entered it and wreaked havoc inside, according to Leroy Hunter, a church deacon and longtime church member.
"They went into the basement and supply room and opened a can of white paint and painted all the cupboards and floors, broke glassware in the basement," said Hunter, 89, a World War II veteran. "Upstairs, they wrote graffiti on all the walls and there's words we don't want to talk about."
He said he thought a felt-tipped marker was used to write the graffiti.
Like Levesque, he said he has relatives buried in the cemetery, including his wife.
"My parents are in there and I do have some other relatives," he said. "I don't know why these things happen. There's quite a lot of liberal people that'll do anything."
Trooper Thomas Welch was investigating the case Tuesday afternoon -- including interviewing church officials and residents. He did not have an estimate of the amount of damage done in both the cemetery and church but said he would be talking with town officials to find out what it will cost to replace or fix the headstones.
"The interior of the church is well into the thousands (of dollars worth of damage)," Welch said. "It's a mess. It's a complete mess in there."
He said the common room in the finished basement was destroyed. The state police emergency response team was called to the church Tuesday to help gather evidence, he said.
"This is going to take a long time to process," he said. "It's going to be a long night."
The church was built in 1826 and owned by the Quakers until the 1940s when the community bought it and fixed it up, according to Hunter, who grew up in the area and started attending the church at an early age. At times, the church closed, but Hunter said he has attended steadily since he got out of the military.
Fifteen or 20 years ago, the church building was raised and a full basement installed, Hunter said. A kitchen and dining area were built in the basement.
The church now is nondenominational and is similar to a conservative Baptist church, Hunter said. The congregation averages 50 to 55 people, he said.
Hunter said that periodically he hears about cemeteries in other towns being vandalized, but it has never happened at Quaker Hill.
"I think it happened sometime (Monday) night because I go up there quite regularly to water a flower on my wife's grave," he said. "She died in 2001."
He said he hopes state police will be able to get fingerprints or other evidence that will help them find out who did the damage.
"I would think there is more than one, but one person could do that," Hunter said. "Maybe the judge will give him what he deserves or maybe the judge will say he is mentally disturbed and it's not his fault."
Meanwhile, Levesque, who attended Sunday school at the church when she was a child, said the church congregation was so large that last winter it was decided to have some members attend services at the Unity Performing Arts Center.
Levesque wondered aloud Tuesday if the split had anything to do with the recent vandalism.
"Some refused to go to the Performing Arts Center because they were so angry," she said. "They decided to split -- part there and part here. Whether that was involved in what happened, I have no idea."
Amy Calder -- 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com
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