Online exclusive: Cemetery association needs help after vandals strike

Vandals smashed and toppled 30 tombstones in the Sagamore Cemetery off Sandwich Road on Monday and Tuesday nights. Some are historically significant memorial stones date from 1840 to 1900.
“It is just mindless vandalism,” cemetery caretaker Donald Ellis said Wednesday. “One stone that was knocked over weighs 600 pounds; so some of these creeps have to have been pretty good size themselves.”
Ellis said some aspects of the vandalism involved “beautiful old marble stones imported from Bournedale” when the canal was constructed through the Collins Farm. “Just smashed,” he said. “It’s discouraging.”
Ellis said he first noticed the destruction Monday night, and more was done apparently Tuesday night. He said the cemetery is a convenient shortcut for young people traveling between Sandwich Road and Cranberry Highway.
“The destruction is bad enough, but the cemetery association doesn’t have the kind of money needed to restore those old stones,” Ellis said. “So we’re going to ask some contractors for help; we need a backhoe for starters, just to move some of the stones and get them into position where they can be put back in place.”
Those who would like to donate to the restoration project should contact the Sagamore Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 679, Sagamore, MA 02561.
Numerous Bourne and Sandwich Civil War veterans are buried in the cemetery along with members of the Bourne and Keith Car Works families.
Officer David Wilson is investigating the vandalism for Bourne police.