MONROE, N.C. — Monroe police said two people vandalized graves in Hillcrest Cemetery last week.
Saturday afternoon, police said they received information about a group of people recording themselves destroying graves at the Hillcrest Cemetery.
“I would say this is unusual,” said Lt. Morgan Malone, Monroe Police Department. “This is the first video I have seen in this cemetery of this happening. Especially for these individuals to post it themselves on their own social media account.”
A pot of flowers was still kicked over in the cemetery on Monday morning.
“It’s malicious,” Malone said. “There’s no excuse for it and the individuals need to be held accountable for what they did.”
“You have so many people that are busy trying to find something to do. I don’t really understand why they would want to disrupt someone’s grave,” said Phyllis Houston-Washington.
Houston-Washington said even though her loved one’s graves were OK, she knows how stressful this situation was for many.
“The thing about it for me was all I could do was just go and see. It was a lot more stressful for one of my nephews because he’s been going through a lot of remembrances about his father right now, and he’s away on vacation,” she said.
Jaykob Marquez Bracey was arrested for felony desecrating a gravestone.
The Department of Juvenile Justice was also contacted a teenager who was allegedly involved, according to police.
Anyone with information about Bracey’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Monroe Police Department at 704-282-4700.
VIDEO: Park rangers report increase in vandalism on Blue Ridge Parkway
This browser does not support the video element.