A cemetery in South Australia’s rural Riverland district was vandalised by a group of young children last week.
The mother of two of the vandals, aged 10 and 11, has since handed her sons in to the council in order to make them pay for their actions.
Headstones and grave sites at Berri Cemetery were smashed and torn apart by the two brothers and a third boy, aged nine, on December 6.
The mother of two boys who vandalised a cemetery in South Australia’s rural Riverland district has handed her kids in to the council
Headstones and grave sites at Berri Cemetery were smashed and torn apart by the two brothers and a third boy, aged nine, on December 6
Dave Otto De Grancy, from Berri Barmera Council, said he was furious when he saw the extent of the damage to more than 40 graves.
Mr Otto De Grancy later received a call from the boys mother, who he said was devastated by her sons actions and wanted them to ‘pay their dues’.
‘I explained to the boys the meaning of a headstone and that each headstone tells its own story, I explained to them that a grave is a very sacred site for each person,’ Mr Otto De Grancy told the Adelaide Advertiser.
The council worker said the children were remorseful for their actions and became emotional when they realised the damage they caused.
‘After a while, the lads really broke down and I drummed into them how much they’d hurt their mum and nanna,’ he said.
‘They gave them a kiss and cuddle and apologised.’
The boys vandalised over 40 graves, smashing headstones and tearing plaques (pictured is a grave site before being vandalised)
The boys stole the plaque from this grave site and smashed several other headstones
Mr Otto De Grancy said he took the boys through the cemetery and had them apologise to the graves they damaged.
After walking through the cemetery, one of the boys is believed to have said ‘I just wish I could take all this back and say sorry to all the people’.
The pair were suspended from their primary school and will spend the week weeding the cemetery.
Mr Otto De Grancy intends to meet with the third boy who vandalised the cemetery to confront him about the damage.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up by a community member who had her partner’s grave site vandalised by the boys.
The fundraiser hopes to raise $10,000 to pay for the damage to headstones and the cemetery.