YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – A cemetery in North York is closed again because more headstones were vandalized.

This is the third time this has happened at the Lebanon Cemetery, in May seven to nine headstones were vandalized and last summer, three headstones were vandalized.

“It goes beyond the head to the heart. And in a way, I’m sort of sentimental because I wonder who would stoop so low to do that,” said Lebanon Cemetery Treasurer, Joseph Richburg.

Two more headstones at the Lebanon Cemetery in North York have been pushed over. Both of them are family members of Samantha Dorm.

“I’m angry, but I’m also very confused because I don’t understand it. And more importantly, I don’t understand why more people aren’t concerned,” said Dorm.

Concerned because this is a historic black cemetery with underground railroad conductors and civil war soldiers buried there.

“I mean, you name the wars, there’s people here,” said Richburg.

“It’s not a black thing. It’s not a white thing. It’s a community thing. They helped build our community of York County. They helped build beyond York County and we all should be concerned that the mentality of individuals is to destroy, not to celebrate,” said Dorm.

Dorm says what’s happening at Lebanon Cemetery is more than vandalism.

“There’s no doubt that there’s vandalism that’s happening. But the problem is that the conditions are right to make the vandals more successful in the process,” said Dorm.

Dorm says from an environmental standpoint, “with heavy rains and things on that line, we’re getting a lot of erosion because we’re on a hill. And so, the ground itself has been unstable and unsteady.”

Lebanon Cemetery is a nonprofit cemetery.

“No one gets paid except the people that cut the grass,” said Richburg.

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So, the cemetery relies on donations. Dorm says it would be helpful to have access to grant money but they can’t.

“What I’m looking for is for the government to say cemeteries are eligible to compete for the same funds that we use for parks and trails so that we can continue to have our families rest with dignity and respect. It’s one bullet point that needs to be added so that we can compete in that market. But until that happens, we don’t have access to funds to do what we need to do to preserve and protect our land,” said Dorm.

Richburg says the cemetery is also closed for safety reasons.

The hope is to have the cemetery back open on October 1.

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