It was my day off, but I went anyway. The vandalism at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Edwardsville, Ill. – Our Town – made national news from CNN to CBS. Someone painted swastikas on more than 200 graves, plus a few houses and cars. I had been called for the assignment but got the text too late; they sent the on-duty reporter instead. But I went, because I needed to see it for myself.
(Yes, it’s been pointed out that he got the swastikas backwards, so he may have unknowingly painted an Indian or Buddhist blessing of good luck on all those graves.)
A suspect is in custody, and I may end up writing about it, so I will reserve further statements until later. You can see it for yourself in these images, taken the morning they were discovered, as family members rushed to see if their families’ graves had been desecrated.
