General Cemetery Complaints/Issues
Are your decorations missing?
We are very sorry that this was your experience upon coming to the cemetery. Unfortunately, we have many of these instances throughout the year, especially during holidays. What we have come to understand is that visitors to nearby graves have been constantly stealing grave decorations from nearby graves to decorate their own grave. These visitors believe that the graves that have decorations won't have the visitors return and it won't cause a problem, or the issue will just land in our office. The cemetery is not responsible, and unfortunately there is not anything we can do about decoration being taken from a grave site. If you see many other people still have decorations, and it is just your grave that is without decorations this was likely the cause.
There are only two instances where the cemetery will remove decorations from a grave:
We are not responsible or liable, and do not take complaints for missing/damaged decorations. Decorations are generally missing/damaged due to visitors, theft, wind, or wildlife. Our employees are not capable of being everywhere at all times, and cannot police the cemetery to watch for theft of decorations. If items are blown off of a grave site due to winds, our groundskeepers will dispose of the items to keep the cemetery clean, as replacement at the original grave site is not possible.
If something is missing from your grave site, and it is a safety hazard as listed on our Prohibited Items list, then it will be removed without warning. You can check with the cemetery before putting down an item which you are unsure if its acceptable.
We are very sorry that this was your experience upon coming to the cemetery. Unfortunately, we have many of these instances throughout the year, especially during holidays. What we have come to understand is that visitors to nearby graves have been constantly stealing grave decorations from nearby graves to decorate their own grave. These visitors believe that the graves that have decorations won't have the visitors return and it won't cause a problem, or the issue will just land in our office. The cemetery is not responsible, and unfortunately there is not anything we can do about decoration being taken from a grave site. If you see many other people still have decorations, and it is just your grave that is without decorations this was likely the cause.
There are only two instances where the cemetery will remove decorations from a grave:
- When we do full cleanups through the entire cemetery. This means we will post signs at least one month in advance letting you know that we will be doing cleanup starting on a certain date and continuing for 3-4 weeks. Every grave in the cemetery will have the decorations removed, but you will have plenty of time to remove any decorations you wish to keep as we give notice in advance.
- The only time we remove decorations from a single grave site is when it causes a safety hazard, or interference with regular grounds maintenance, and we will not give an advance notice. For instance, some graves are overdecorated which leads to grass and weeds growing through the decorations. This not only makes it impossible to maintain the grave, but it also allows rodents such as mice and rats to start nesting and living among the overgrown grass and weeds, this is a safety concern for both our visitors and workers. We ask that you keep the decorations to a minimum so we can properly maintain the cemetery. If you visit the cemetery frequently and remove your old decorations, keep them to a minimum, and are within our rules and regulations we will have no reason to remove the decorations.
We are not responsible or liable, and do not take complaints for missing/damaged decorations. Decorations are generally missing/damaged due to visitors, theft, wind, or wildlife. Our employees are not capable of being everywhere at all times, and cannot police the cemetery to watch for theft of decorations. If items are blown off of a grave site due to winds, our groundskeepers will dispose of the items to keep the cemetery clean, as replacement at the original grave site is not possible.
If something is missing from your grave site, and it is a safety hazard as listed on our Prohibited Items list, then it will be removed without warning. You can check with the cemetery before putting down an item which you are unsure if its acceptable.
